MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – There are kinks in the ongoing negotiations for a deal between the country’s second and 3rd largest media groups.
Owners of GMA-7, operated by GMA Network Inc., and the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs TV5, are currently in talks for a possible deal that both camps aim to finalize before 2012 ends.
“There are outstanding issues other than pricing…It takes two to tango. We may be moving in one direction and the other is moving in another direction. Right now, we are not moving in the same direction,” GMA-7 chair and CEO Felipe Gozon told reporters at the August 14 briefing on the network’s financial performance in the first 6 months of the year.
These issues are on top of the acquisition price of P50 billion to P60 billion, he said.
“In a transaction as big as this and as complex as this, there will always be issues. No one can avoid that. Let me just say that the issues have not been resolved. Not all of them,” Gozon said.
“We have not issued a joint statement that we are terminating talks,” he stressed. “Mr. Pangilinan agreed with me that if nothing happens or no agreement has been reached by December, then in all likelihood there would be no agreement.”
This is the 3rd time the two groups are negotiating since about a decade ago.
He also said GMA-7 has not received a proposal yet from conglomerate San Miguel Corp. whose chief, Ramon Ang, has previously announced they are interested to acquire a network, too. – Rappler.com
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