ABS-CBN selling big chunk of HQ to Ayala Land
MANILA, Philippines — ABS-CBN Corp. is bidding goodbye to its broadcasting center after it agreed to sell nearly 70 percent of its property in Diliman, Quezon City to Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) for P6.24 billion as the Lopez-led company raises funds to extinguish debts.
On Thursday, ABS-CBN announced it had inked a memorandum of agreement to sell 30,000 square-meters (sqm) of its 44,027.30 sqm property.
The property includes ABS-CBN’s main building and production facilities.
READ: ABS-CBN to sell portion of QC property for P6.24B to Ayala Land
The Inquirer learned that the company will consolidate its operations at the Eugenio Lopez Jr. Communications Center, which is also within the same vicinity.
ALI, in a disclosure, said the transaction was still pending regulatory approvals, including a clearance from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
By installments
Under the terms of agreement, ABS-CBN will sell the property to ALI on an installment basis.
The down payment shall be deposited in an escrow account to be released to ABS-CBN following the signing of the deed of absolute sale. The balance is payable over 10 years.
The transaction amount was a “mutually agreed valuation by the parties following arms-length negotiations and proper due diligence review.”
The proceeds will be used to settle ABS-CBN’s financial obligations. As of end-September, the company’s total liabilities stood at P45.12 billion.
The company’s net loss in the nine months to September narrowed to P2.41 billion from P3.15 billion a year earlier, amid lower production costs.
This was not the first time ABS-CBN planned a sale of its assets to raise funds.
The Lopez-led company was supposed to sell its broadband business and other related assets of subsidiary Sky Cable Corp. to PLDT Inc. in a P6.75-billion deal but they “mutually decided not to proceed” last year.
This, even after they had already secured regulatory approval from the PCC.
This transaction would have meant P4 billion in gross proceeds for the media company.—Tyrone Jasper C. Piad
