Lopezes acquire additional ABS-CBN shares

MANILA, Philippines - Holding firm Lopez Inc. has paid a fourth of the value of a P1.5 billion transaction for the acquisition of additional common shares in listed multimedia giant ABS-CBN Corp.

ABS-CBN Corp. corporate secretary Manuel Torres informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that Lopez Inc. subscribed to 34.7 million common shares of ABS-CBN Corp. last Tuesday

Torres pointed out that the Lopezes paid 25 percent of the total subscription price, while the remaining 75 percent would be settled on or before Dec. 31 this year.

“The common shares will only be issued to the Lopez Inc. upon full payment of the subscription price,” Torres clarified.

It would be recalled that ABS-CBN announced last May 15 that Lopez Inc. would subscribe to P1.5 billion worth of new common shares of the multimedia giant at P43.225 per share. The price represented a 2.1 percent discount to the 45-day volume-weighted average price for ABS-CBN Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs) and 3.2 percent premium to the 45-day volume-weighted average price for ABS-CBN common shares as of May 14.

Last June 5, ABS-CBN raised P2.5 billion after Capital International Private Equity Fund VI LP (CIPEF) of the US-based the Capital Group that manages about $6.7 billion worth of funds across the globe completed a buy-in transaction.

CIPEF through Mercury Media Holdings Finance I Ltd yesterday subscribed to P2.5 billion worth of ABS-CBN Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs).

Last May 15, ABS-CBN announced that CIPEF agreed to subscribe to P2.5 billion worth of new PDRs priced at P43.225 per PDR to be issued by ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. which will in turn subscribe to the same number of newly issued common shares of ABS-CBN Corp.

At the completion of the share subscriptions and the PDR subscription, Lopez Inc. would hold 56 percent of the outstanding common shares and would retain voting control of 79 percent of all outstanding shares.

CIPEF VI has a fund size of $3 billion focused on expansion capital and buyout in global emerging markets and is part of the six funds managed by the group across the globe with aggregate commitments of approximately $6.7 billion.

ING Bank NV acted as financial advisor to ABS-CBN for the transaction.

Earlier, ABS-CBN chief finance officer Rolando Valdueza said proceeds of the fund raising activities would be used towards initiatives to further expand the distribution of ABS-CBN content to the widest array of platforms available including Digital Terrestrial Television.

ABS-CBN  is spending P5 billion for its capital expenditures which is  almost the same as last year’s P4.9 billion, which would be spent for equipment replacement, transmission facilities, film and program rights acquisition, among others.