PLDT completes P2 billion investment in Radius

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Inc. has placed a P2 billion investment in a unit of a sister company, marking another expansion for the telco leader working on solidifying its industry dominance.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PLDT said it has invested P2.12 billion in Radius Telecoms Inc., controlled by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which is also led by tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“Further to the disclosure we submitted to the PSE on Jan. 30, we announced that on April 30, PLDT Inc. completed its investment in Radius Telecoms Inc. by subscribing to 2,491,516 shares of common stock of Radius, which represents 34.9 percent equity interest,” PLDT said.

For PLDT, the investment meant it could build up industry leadership and load up its market share. Further, it can capitalize on the fiber assets of Radius to attract new subscribers, as it anticipates broadband competition to heat up with rivals coming up with new products.

Radius maintains a network of facilities operating on pure fiber, extending connectivity services to at least 150 enterprise buildings and more than 200 residential units.

Both PLDT and Radius expect the transaction to result in cost efficiencies, as they will be able to hook into each other’s infrastructure portfolio in key areas.

Apart from this, the companies plan to explore operational synergies to improve internet quality for customers of both PLDT and Radius.

Radius holds a legislative franchise to operate and maintain telco assets for commercial services. It is wholly owned by Paragon Vertical Corp., a subsidiary of e-Meralco Ventures, which is a unit of Meralco and is also headed by. Pangilinan.

PLDT had also wanted to buy out ABS-CBN unit Sky Cable Corp. and came close to taking over it. The telco had obtained antitrust approval to proceed with its proposal to purchase Sky Cable, particularly its internet business, for P6.75 billion.

Had the buyout pushed through, PLDT was expected to claim half of the broadband market with the addition of new subscribers from Sky Cable.

However, PLDT and Sky Cable aborted their deal on disagreements in the final terms.