ABS-CBN Corp. and PLDT Inc. announced Thursday they have terminated the agreement to sell SkyCable Inc.’s broadband business, despite obtaining approval from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
The two companies said they mutually agreed not to proceed with the sale of Sky Cable to PLDT under the sale and purchase agreement signed by the parties in March 2023.
“Following this development, Sky Cable is pleased to announce that its cable TV service will continue, assuring its subscribers that they can maintain their subscriptions,” ABS-CBN said.
“Meanwhile, Sky’s internet broadband service, SKYFiber, remains unaffected,” it said.
This was the second time the two companies decided not to pursue the transaction. PLDT and ABS-CBN announced in November 2020 they agreed to drop the sale of SkyCable, citing anti-trust concerns.
The PCC, the government’s anti-trust body approved the sale of SkyCable broadband business to PLDT in January this year.
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.
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 had previously mentioned the transaction was in line with its mission to narrow the digital divide by expanding broadband connectivity and supporting the government’s efforts to expand the nation’s digital infrastructure.