MBC buys Elizalde hotel stake

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) suspended trading on radio broadcasting firm Manila Broadcasting Co. (MBC) Monday following a disclosure that the controlling group, the Elizalde family, is set to infuse an affiliate hotel and resort business into the listed company.

MBC said on Monday it was buying 200 million common shares of Elizalde Hotels and Resorts Inc. for P200 million. An earlier board meeting of MBC agreed to make an offer to acquire 44.44 percent of Elizalde Hotels’ capital stock, a deal that would diversify its business beyond broadcasting.

The company president, Ruperto Nicdao Jr., had been authorized to sign, execute and deliver any and all agreements and documents and to perform all acts, for and on behalf of MBC.

The PSE said the transaction was covered by the disclosure for substantial acquisitions and reverse takeovers of the revised disclosure rules. As such, the PSE implemented a trading suspension on MBC shares starting at 11:25 a.m. on Monday pending disclosure of additional information.

Valued by the stock market at around P7.7 billion, MBC is engaged in the radio broadcasting business. Its banner station is dzRH, the only nationwide AM station in the country. Love Radio, YES FM and Easy Rock are the three top-rated FM networks being operated by the company. It generates sales through advertising, which accounts for more than 94 percent of revenues.

MBC holds a congressional franchise to operate and own radio and TV stations in the country for a period of 25 years starting 1994.