Businessman Leandro Leviste, a son of Senator Loren Legarda, has increased his stake in broadcast network ABS-CBN Corp. to 10 percent ahead of the company’s annual stockholders meeting this month.
ABS-CBN said in a regulatory filing Wednesday Leviste’s LL Holdings Inc. and Countryside Investments Holdings Corp. (CIHC) now own 90 million shares in ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Holdings Corp (ABSP), which is equivalent to 10 percent beneficial ownership in the broadcaster.
LL Holdings and CIHC are now in the process of converting their ABSP shares into common shares. LL Holdings acquired 8.5-percent interest in ABS-CBN in May 2024, making Leviste the second largest shareholder of the media firm after the Lopez family’s Lopez, Inc.
The acquisition of more shares will bring Leviste closer to gaining a seat in the company’s 11-man board of directors.
“ABS-CBN is a great company that has helped countless people over the years. I hope there may now be a way for us to be of help, for the benefit of ABS-CBN’s shareholders and employees, and the media industry of the Philippines,” Leviste said in a statement posted on Solar Philippines’ social media account.
Solar Philippines is the renewable energy firm owned by Leviste, which holds a minority stake in SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC).
Leviste’s Solar Philippines sold over P6 billion worth of shares in SPNEC in the past year. He still owns 20.6 billion shares in SPNEC valued at about P22 billion.
ABS-CBN reported a net loss of P9.7 billion in 2023, higher than the P2.5-billion net loss it booked in 2022 in the absence of political advertising.
ABS-CBN will hold its annual stockholders meeting on June 20, 2024 to select new directors for 2024-2025.
The share price of the broadcast firm climbed 77 percent to P7.65 per share on June 5, 2024 since Leviste’s shareholdings in ABS-CBN were reported. This means that Leviste’s 90 million shares in the company is now worth P692 million.
Legarda, Leviste’s mother, rose to prominence as a multi-awarded producer and news anchor on ABS-CBN starting in 1986. She ran for the Senate in the 1998 elections.
