The Lopez Group is selling Sky Cable Corp. to PLDT Inc. for P6.75 billion, six months after both companies agreed to terminate the transaction.
ABS-CBN Corp., the broadcast arm of the Lopez Group, said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Thursday its board of directors approved on March 16 the sale of its interests directly or indirectly representing 58.7 percent of the outstanding capital stock of Sky Cable which would cease its pay TV services.
ABS-CBN said it would receive about P4 billion in gross proceeds from the sale of shares.
Other stockholders of Sky Cable, Lopez Inc. and Sky Vision Corp. also agreed to sell their shares in Sky Cable to PLDT.
ABS-CBN said PLDT would pay about P6.75 billion for all the issued and outstanding capital stocks of Sky Cable.
“The proceeds to be received by Sky Vision will be used, among others, to settle its obligations, including its obligations to ABS-CBN,” the company said.
“The closing of the proposed transaction shall be subject to compliance with certain conditions precedent, which includes, among others, Sky Cable engaging exclusively in the broadband business, with the termination or cessation of operations of its pay TV and cable businesses and obtaining all applicable government approvals and clearances,” it said.
ABS-CBN said the sale of Sky Cable to PLDT was a “strategic decision resulting from, among other things, the significant capital expenditure requirements of Sky Cable to maintain its competitiveness.”
The company said the sale of its ownership in Sky Cable would allow ABS-CBN to focus its resources on content creation.
“While awaiting the required regulatory approvals, Sky Cable’s broadband and cable TV services will continue. Once approvals are obtained, Sky Cable is committed to working with all its cable TV subscribers to ensure a transition to their preferred service,” ABS-CBN said.
PLDT said in a separate disclosure the proposed transaction is aligned with its mission to narrow the digital divide by expanding broadband connectivity and support the government’s push to expand the nation’s digital infrastructure.
“The proposed transaction is expected to benefit the existing broadband subscribers of both PLDT and Sky by: [a] strengthening and expanding the coverage of their offerings and services, particularly in remote areas; and [b] upgrading overall customer experience through the combined expertise, resources and capabilities of PLDT and Sky,” PLDT said.
ABS-CBN and PLDT mutually agreed in September 2022 to pause their investment deal amid issues raised by lawmakers and the National Telecommunications Commission.
The investment deal involves the ABS-CBN purchasing a 35-percent stake in TV5 Network Inc. and Cignal Cable Corp. of the PLDT Group acquiring Sky Cable.
