All's well that ends well

What was otherwise a “boring” time for the Philippine corporate scene turned into an exciting week.

For sheer size and audacity, the recent acquisition of Digitel Telecoms by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. makes it a strong candidate for the title “Deal of the Year.”

Days after the announcement, the acquisition remains the talk of the town.

Cloaked in secrecy almost up to disclosure time, the P69-billion deal took many by surprise. For a while, speculation about a Digitel takeover pointed in the direction of San Miguel Corp., which has acquired a number of telecommunications companies, including Bell Telecom and Eastern Telecommunications.

By the time that rumor faded, the Gokongweis were ready to shake hands with Manny Pangilinan and his crew.

It was good to see Pangilinan with brothers John and James Gokongwei, and John’s son Lance. Nearly 10 years ago, the Gokongweis launched a bid to buy PLDT. They failed because of PLDT policy which did not allow competitors on the PLDT board. This time, the shoe is on the other foot.

But if there were any hard feelings on either side, it did not show. And MVP said last Tuesday that there was none at all. And why should they feel bad? The Gokongwei’s JG Summit Holdings got a good price for Digitel and swapped it for a substantial stake in the country’s leading telecommunications group. James Go will get to join the PLDT board.

Pangilinan will fortify PLDT by absorbing the country’s third mobile operator.

Both sides of this transaction have demonstrated they are not letting emotions get in the way of sound business.

But is the deal good for consumers? News of the transaction immediately sparked fears that PLDT would throttle Sun’s popular unlimited calls and text services and that this will eventually lead to higher telco prices.

But MVP gave assurances that Sun’s unli offers will stay. PLDT’s plan is to keep offering Sun’s ‘unli’ packages and to further improve them. PLDT president Poli Nazareno has also explained that there is a market for these services and that PLDT aims “to be the best in serving that market.”

Sun rising

One of the most amusing business stories to come out for some time was the news item last week about PLDT and Smart president Polly Nazareno earnestly assuring the public that, yes, PLDT will not only keep Sun Cellular’s unlimited service offers alive, it will actually make Sun services even better.

Unthinkable, until last week

For the past seven years, both PLDT’s Smart and Globe have been trying to make Digitel’s Sun set. But these days, Nazareno says he will “enhance” Sun’s services. It’s clearly now in PLDT’s interest to make Sun shine brighter.

There are doubters who say PLDT will keep Sun going long enough for people to become complacent and not notice unli services fade away. This, they fear, would lead to higher prices.

But PLDT execs say otherwise. They say the Sun brand has become too valuable an asset to simply throw it away. Also, more importantly, there is a market for unlimited services. And that will not go away. So PLDT has good reason to keep Sun going on and on and on.

Not so hidden agenda

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) will hold the 13th National Convention of Lawyers from April 7 to 9, 2011 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center.

This year’s convention will have be unprecedented, given its powerhouse speakers. Keynote speaker at the opening ceremonies will be Vice President Jojo Binay, the highest ranking government official from among the ranks of lawyers. Luncheon guest speaker will be Senator Chiz Escudero. Meanwhile, guest speaker during the solidarity night with the judiciary and other stakeholders will be no less than Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. Luncheon guest speaker on April 8 is Justice Secretary Leila de Lima while guest speaker during regional presentation and IBP Awards Night is Solicitor General Joel Cadiz. The luncheon speaker on April 9 is House Speaker Sonny Belmonte.

Lawyers who will attend earn will earn 20 MCLE units. For those who want to complete 36 MCLE units, there is an option to stay at the convention area for an additional day for an added fee of P1,500 on top of the convention fee.

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