MVP group still keen on GMA-7 stake

MANILA, Philippines – The group of telecommunications and infrastructure tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan is still keen on acquiring a stake in broadcast giant GMA Network Incorporated.

“We are open anytime, but the offer must be acceptable to us,” Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taguig City last Friday, June 9, when asked if his group is still open to an acquisition deal even if talks between the two camps have collapsed several times.

Last May, the 3 major shareholders of GMA had said they would entertain suitors “if the price is right.”

GMA chairman and chief executive officer Felipe Gozon, along with the Duavit and Jimenez groups, collectively own roughly 80% of the broadcast firm.

Pangilinan’s media interests are under MediaQuest Holdings Incorporated, which is a subsidiary of PLDT Incorporated’s Beneficial Trust Fund.

The tycoon has stakes in the Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, TV5, BusinessWorld (through Philippine Star), and Interaksyon. Aside from MediaQuest, Pangilinan also chairs PLDT and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation.

It was in 2001 when talks between GMA and Pangilinan on buying a minority stake in the broadcaster started. Negotiations bogged down in 2014 because of a pricing issue.

Pangilinan, however, clarified that as of June 9 this year, there has been “no discussion yet” between his and Gozon’s groups.

Aside from Pangilinan, San Miguel Corporation president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang previously offered to buy a 34% stake in GMA for an undisclosed price.

But in 2015, GMA ended talks with Ang, which caught the latter by surprise. (READ: Why GMA-Ramon Ang talks collapsed)

Gozon said he also turned down offers from “old and new” suitors, including boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson.

In the 1st quarter of 2017, PLDT saw its consolidated net income drop by a fifth to P4.97 billion from P6.233 billion a year ago.

Consolidated service revenues also decreased by 7% to P37.701 billion in the first 3 months of the year from the same period a year ago.

For GMA, its net income fell by 17% to P842 million in the first 3 months of 2017, from the P1.01 billion in the same period a year ago, due to the absence of election-related spending. – Rappler.com