Ang on the verge of sealing GMA deal

San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang is expected to seal a deal to acquire a minority stake in television broadcast firm GMA Network Inc. by early September, or as soon as “essential” aspects of the transaction have been agreed upon, GMA chair and CEO Felipe Gozon said Thursday.

Gozon made the comments during the company’s quarterly briefing, during which GMA reported a 49-percent drop in net income during the first half of 2014 to P580 million due to the absence of election-related advertisements. GMA, whose revenues declined by 14 percent to P5.77 billion, was hoping to at least match last year’s profit of P1.7 billion, Gozon said.

“Hopefully if not this month, [the deal will close in] the early part of next month,” Gozon said.

He reiterated that Ang’s entry would be beneficial to the broadcast company, one of the country’s largest.

Ang is expected to acquire a board seat and that the controlling shareholders, which include the Gozon, Duavit and Jimenez families, will all be selling shares, Gozon added.

He declined to confirm the purchase price or target stake that Ang would be acquiring, citing a confidentiality agreement. Ang, who was buying the shares in his personal capacity, told the Inquirer in June that he would buy about 30 percent of the company at P10.60 a share.

GMA shares closed flat at P7.27 apiece, giving the company a market value of P24.4 billion Thursday.

The investment, meanwhile, signifies continued appetite for television assets, especially major players like GMA.

The broadcast company was courted on several occasions by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. But talks never resulted in a concrete deal. Television continues to corner most, or about 78 percent, of the P340 billion that Kantar Media said was spent on advertising in the country last year.