PLDT to take over Sky's broadband business

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Inc. is set to acquire Sky Cable Corp.'s broadband business for P6.75 billion. 

In a disclosure sent to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, the Manny V. Pangilinan-led telco said that the sale and purchase agreement with ABS-CBN Corp. would cover 100% of Sky's total issued and outstanding capital stock.

Sky is currently owned by Sky Vision Corp., ABS-CBN Corp. and Lopez Inc. The transaction covers 1.38 billion common shares of Sky. 

By purchasing Sky's broadband unit, PLDT would net its broadband connectivity network nationwide.

ABS-CBN noted in a separate disclosure that the sale would cover 58.7% of their outstanding shares in Sky Cable. The beleaguered broadcast network is expected to net P4 billion from the sale. 

Likewise, proceeds from the share and sale agreement will be used by Sky Vision Corp. to settle its obligations to ABS-CBN.

PLDT’s board of directors approved the transaction on Thursday.

Pangilinan earlier pulled out its bid to purchase Sky Cable back in 2020 in a bid to evade regulatory attention.

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As of 2:18 p.m. Thursday, shares in PLDT were trading down 1.91% while ABS-CBN lost 0.68%. — Ramon Royandoyan

Editor's Note: A unit under PLDT's media conglomerate has a majority stake in Philstar Global Corp., which runs Philstar.com. This article was independently produced following editorial guidelines.