Ang’’s acquisition of GMA 7 seen sealed this November

Tycoon Ramon Ang’’s acquisition of a 30-percent stake in GMA Network Inc. is almost complete and will likely be consummated this month, according to the head of the country’s second largest broadcast firm. In a briefing on Friday, GMA 7 chair and CEO Felipe Gozon said negotiations between the selling shareholders and the president of the San Miguel conglomerate were “now in the homestretch.” “”It’s taken us long … but hopefully we will be signing the purchase agreement by the end of the month,”” he added. The deal calls for Ang to acquire a third of the listed broadcast firm. The shares to be acquired would come from all three controlling families of GMA 7, namely the Gozons, the Duavits and the Jimenezes, although it remains unclear whether the share disposal will be made on a prorated basis among the three families. It has been reported that the acquisition deal was priced at P10.60 a share, giving the entire GMA 7 a value of P51 billion. Gozon said the negotiations between lawyers of both camps were slowed down by the “nitty gritty” details of the deal, including “the small dots and commas, and all that.” “”Well, it’s a big amount that we’re talking about so I can’t blame them also,” he said, of the acquisition value. “But for me, the issues are insignificant.”” On Friday, the broadcast firm reported that its net income for the first nine months hit P1 billion, representing a 33-percent decline from the P1.48 billion reported during the same period last year. This was due mainly to the absence of political ads this year, company officials explained. Revenues for the first nine months of 2014 were also down to P8.9 billion, representing a 9-percent decline from the P9.75 billion in total sale during the same period last year. On a quarterly basis, however, GMA 7’’s third quarter outperformed last year’s by 20 percent, from a net income of P353 million in 2013’s July to September period to P422 million during the same period this year. Total revenues were also slightly higher at P3.14 billion for the third quarter of 2014, versus P3.02 billion in the third quarter of last year. Meanwhile, revenues from other businesses led by GMA International, the business unit that manages the operations and distribution of the Network’s three international channels, rose 12 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter. Total operating expenses slightly increased by 2 percent to P2.590 billion, as both production cost and general administrative expenses climbed 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively, in between quarters. Personnel cost was higher mostly from salary adjustments and the amortization of signing and appreciation bonuses in September as part of the network’’s collective bargaining agreement. “The third quarter was a promising period for GMA with both our revenues and ratings on the uptrend. We are hoping to sustain this performance until the end of the year as we remain committed to offering superior programs across all genres and platforms,” Gozon said.