GMA7, TV5 deny merger rumors

Manny Pangilinan. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines–Rumors of an impending megadeal that would result in the merger of Manuel V. Pangilinan’s TV5 and GMA-7 are false, with both sides denying any negotiations with each other.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, GMA Network Inc. belied the rumors, which first circulated in social networking sites’ Twitter.com and Facebook.com.

For his part, Ray C. Espinosa, president of TV5 operator Associated Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), said the rumored purchase price of P500 billion should have been a giveaway to the rumor’s lack of credibility.

If the rumor had been true, buying GMA 7 for half a trillion pesos would have been a 2,300-percent premium over the company’s market capitalization of P20.83 billion, based on data at the local bourse.

The price would have also made GMA 7 almost as valuable as the Pangilinan group’s crown jewel, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which is worth about P543 billion. PLDT makes over P40 billion in profits annually. GMA 7, meanwhile, made P3 billion in 2010.

“There is no truth to the rumor going around in social media sites that Mr. Pangilinan has bought GMA Network,” GMA 7 said in a prepared statement.

“In fact, there is no negotiation going on between GMA and Mr. Pangilinan regarding the latter’s acquisition of GMA 7,” the company said.