Leviste raises stake in ABS-CBN to 10%

MANILA, Philippines —  Businessman Leandro Leviste, the son of Sen. Loren Legarda, has raised his stake in the Lopez family’s media giant ABS-CBN Corp. to 10 percent, bringing him closer to gaining a seat in the company’s board of directors.

Leviste’s LL Holdings Inc. (LLH), together with parent company Countryside Investments Holdings Corp., now own 90 million shares of ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. which are equivalent to 10 percent of the outstanding shares of ABS-CBN.

LLH submitted its initial statement of beneficial ownership of securities in compliance with rules for disclosing upon reaching the 10 percent threshold to become a non-public shareholder.

Leviste, with 90 million ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Holdings shares, now has almost a fifth of the 502 million shares owned by Lopez Inc., bringing him closer to gaining a seat on the 11-person ABS-CBN  board of directors.

He is currently the largest shareholder of ABS-CBN after Lopez Inc.

In an interview last month, Leviste said he is keen on buying more shares in ABS-CBN .

“We want to buy more shares. If there will be shares available, then we will buy,” he said.

Leviste had earlier acquired a stake in ABS-CBN  as part of a series of investments after selling part of his stake in SP New Energy Corp. to Meralco PowerGen Corp.

Through LLH and Countryside Investments Holdings, Leviste last month purchased 76.5 million shares of ABS-CBN  and ABS-CBN Holdings., equivalent to 8.50 percent of its issued and outstanding common shares.

“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.

Leviste is the founder of Solar Philippines and currently serves as vice chair of SP New Energy Corp.

Legarda, Leviste’s mother, rose to prominence as an award-winning producer and news anchor on ABS-CBN  starting in 1986.

She anchored ABS-CBN’s World Tonight at the time Leviste was born in 1993, up to her run for the Senate in the 1998 elections.

Since Leviste’s shareholding was first disclosed last May 2, ABS-CBN ’s share price has surged by 77 percent to close at P7.65 per share on June 4, 2024, valuing Leviste’s shareholding at P688.5 million.