Lucio Tan Jr.’s group acquires PT&T

Eton Properties president Lucio Tan Jr.

A group led by businessmen Lucio Tan Jr., Salvador Zamora II and Benjamin Bitanga is entering the telco business and has taken control of Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PT&T).

A stock exchange filing on Friday showed that privately-held investment company Menlo Capital Corp. acquired 559.99 million shares, or 70 percent of PT&T, from previous owner Republic Telecommunications Holdings Inc.

The acquisition price was not disclosed.

Menlo was the vehicle used by Zamora and Bitanga, who were elected chair and CEO respectively, replacing Jose Luis Santiago. Miguel Bitanga was also named chief operating officer and treasurer on Friday.

Tan Jr., son of Taipan Lucio Tan, is a minority shareholder of Menlo, which also owns listed energy company MRC Allied Inc.

PT&T, established in 1962, was a pioneering player and among the first in the Philippines to provide telegrams and analogue long distance public voice services.

Once a rival of industry giant PLDT, it suffered in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

It went under voluntary trading suspension in 2004 since it was unable to comply with the reportorial requirements of the Philippine Stock Exchange. Mounting debt prompted it to file for corporate rehabilitation in 2009.

PT&T is mainly involved in fixed-line broadband, seen as the next key battleground area among telco providers as the wireless segment slows due to subscribers shifting to mobile internet apps and services. PT&T serves large corporations, small businesses and homes.

According to the company, it maintains over 500 kilometers of redundant fiber optic routes throughout Metro Manila and nearby areas.

The company noted on its website that it offers dedicated or shared internet access service via fiber or wireless, with speeds of up to 1 gigabits per second to the end user.