Leviste keen on raising ABS-CBN stake

MANILA, Philippines —  Businessman Leandro Leviste, the son of Sen. Loren Legarda, is willing to increase his stake in the Lopez family’s media company ABS-CBN Corp.

Leviste, who recently acquired an 8.5-percent stake in ABS-CBN, said he is keen on buying more shares in the company. “We want to buy more shares. If there will be shares available, then we will buy,” he said.

Asked why he made the investment in the media network, Leviste said because it’s “cheap,’’ adding that “there’s a lot of possibilities.”

“The market cap now (of ABS-CBN) is P4 billion. I don’t think the Lopezes will allow that the company will remain at P4 billion,” he said.

Leviste, through LL Holdings Inc. and its parent company Countryside Investments Holdings Corp., earlier this month purchased 76.5 million shares of ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Holdings Corp, equivalent to 8.50 percent of its issued and outstanding common shares.

The acquisition makes LL Holdings the largest shareholder of ABS-CBN after the Lopez family’s Lopez Inc.

“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 earlier said.