The two media entities announce that they have officially signed their much-talked-about collaboration, on Thursday, August 11.
Lopez-owned ABS-CBN and Manny V. Pangilinan’s MediaQuest Holdings Inc. are now under the same corporate banner.
This is following months of speculations and teasing from both media entities, that a formidable partnership will usher in Philippine broadcast industry.
The said signing comes just days after PLDT and TV5’s CEO and chairman Manny V Pangilinan announced that the deal was already in closing stages.
Excitement for this venture is reflective on ABS-CBN Corp’s performance in the stock market as stock prices and traded volumes rising to rarely seen levels. Today, August 12, the volume of stocks under ABS-CBN leapt by 1505% from its 65-day average, and amounted to a stunning 2.6 million shares.
“The model we are working on is, it will be a joint venture between TV5, using the platform of TV5 as the free-to-air broadcast platform of both TV5 and PLDT Group and the ABS-CBN group,” MVP said during the PLDT financial briefing last August 6.
In a disclosure the Philippine Stock Exchange, the investment deal allows ABS-CBN to control 35% of stake, or 6.46 million new common shares, in TV5, for PhP2.16 billion. In return, MediaQuest’s Cignal Cable Corp. is expected to take ownership of the 38.88% stake ABS-CBN’s Sky Cable Corp. Both ABS-CBN’s stake in TV5 and Cignal’s stake in Sky Cable, are expandable up to 49.92% and 61%, respectively, after 8 years.
“This transaction is clearly transformational for both companies and is envisaged to significantly enhance TV5’s capability to deliver content and coverage to the Filipino public in the areas of entertainment, news, sports and public services,” shared ABS-CBN in a statement.
Manny V. Pangilinan, meanwhile, expressed his full trust on the partnership, noting ABS-CBN’s leadership in content production. “We welcome the entry and investment of ABS-CBN in TV5, as ABS-CBN has always been the leading developer and provider of Filipino-related entertainment content not only in the Philippines but overseas as well,” he said.
The venture is reportedly seeing the two media giants combining their resources, power, and structures to form a single media entity. ABS-CBN News is seen to integrate with TV5’s own news department, under the partnership. MediaQuest is initially taking a 65% stake of the partnership. The rest goes to ABS-CBN, whose massive transmission and distribution resources are expected to be put into use to bolster TV5’s nationwide reach.
ABS-CBN has operated without a broadcast franchise for more than a year. It has notably partnered with Zoe Broadcasting Network Inc and MVP’s TV5 to distribute its programs on free TV, while expanding its digital and streaming reach.
