The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) approved PLDT Inc.’s acquisition of the broadband business and related assets of Sky Cable Corp.
Sky Cable, a subsidiary of the Lopez Group, said the PCC on Jan. 19, 2024 “allowed the sale of Sky Cable’s broadband business and related assets to PLDT via the sale of 100 percent of Sky’s total issued and outstanding capital stock.”
“The proposed transaction is, however, still subject to a number of closing conditions,” it said.
The board of directors of ABS-CBN on March 16, 2023 approved the sale of its interests in Sky Cable directly or indirectly representing 58.7 percent of the outstanding capital stock of the company. The total gross proceeds to be received by ABS-CBN from the sale of shares is about P4 billion.
Other stockholders of Sky Cable, Lopez Inc. and Sky Vision Corp. also agreed to sell their shares in Sky Cable to PLDT Inc.
ABS-CBN said the total purchase price to be paid by PLDT for all the issued and outstanding capital stock of Sky Cable is P6.75 billion.
Sky Vision said it would use the proceeds from the sale to settle its debt, including its obligations to ABS-CBN.
ABS-CBN said the sale was a “strategic decision resulting from, among other things, the significant capital expenditure requirements of Sky Cable to maintain its competitiveness.”
The broadcast company said the sale of its ownership in Sky Cable would allow it to focus its resources on content creation.
PLDT said the transaction is aligned with its mission to narrow the digital divide by expanding broadband connectivity and supporting the government’s push to expand the nation’s digital infrastructure.