IT IS CLEAR by now that Rep. Martin Romualdez of Leyte has employed a series of master strokes and circular ownership tricks to prep up Prime Media Holdings ($:PRIM), making it ready financially and technically to later on assume the now-vacant frequencies of the ABS-CBN franchise through legislative action.
With Philippine Collective Media Corporation's (PCMC) radio and TV stations being upgraded by Congress to "nationwide" broadcasting rather than just in Region 8, and Prime Media's acquisition of PCMC, it won't be far-fetched that soon, the Romualdez-led media companies would be primed to bid for the ABS-CBN frequencies -- a much-desired government asset.
When PRIM announced that it would allow itself to be used for a backdoor listing of PCMC in the PSE, it was suspended to make way for further study by the Exchange and by investors.Trading of the stock was later resumed.
It was explained that there would be a shares-for-shares transaction that would result in PRIM owning PCMC, and PCMC shareholders owning 70% of PRIM’s outstanding stock.
The PCMC shareholders will exchange shares worth P1,679,966,400 to acquire 1,679,966,400 shares of PRIM.
PRIM's latest disclosure in the local stock market are:
a) Acquisition of 99.9% of the outstanding capital stock of Philippine Collective Media Corporation (PCMC) in consideration for the Company’s issuance of up to 1,679,966,400 common shares at the minimum subscription price of One Peso (Php1.00) per share; and
b) Amendment of the Company’s Articles of Incorporation to include, among other amendments, a provision prohibiting foreign ownership of shares, in view of the intention to acquire ownership and management of PCMC, which is engaged in mass media—a business limited to Filipino citizens or to corporations, cooperatives or associations that are wholly-owned and managed by Filipinos.
The objective of Congressman Martin Romualdez in effecting this circular ownership between PRIM and PCMC is to make Prime Media “become a commercially operational company” with a “potentially profitable and viable business”.
For PCMC, the objective is to “provide other content providers an avenue to broadcast their contents regionally and nationwide.”
Meanwhile, RYM Business Management which manages PRIM has announced to all foreign shareholders of the company to sell or transfer their shares to Filipinos before Nov. 15, 2021, inasmuch as the Constitution reserves media ownership only to Filipinos.
Full Filipino ownership is a requirement in PRIM’s application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend its charter to prohibit foreign ownership in the company not later than Nov. 1, 2021.
It was announced that RYM will also conduct a voluntary tender offer to acquire foreign-owned shares at one peso per share.
PRIM said in a statement that they “believe that the transaction with PCMC will lead to the long-awaited transformation of PRIM into a viable and operational business entity which will address its capital deficiency, negative equity, and non-operation."
Approvals for these corporate layering are in the pipeline and soon, PRIM and Martin Romualdez will have a nascent media giant that could take over where ABS-CBN left, radio frequency-wise.
Only then followers of this exciting telenovela in real life can have some sort of evidence that President Duterte, way back in October, 2020 when Alan Peter and Lord Allan were fighting for the speakership, had promised Romualdez to give him the much-sought-after ABS-CBN franchise frequencies.
Which is the deductive premise of this column, actually a conjecture that is worth toying about as an exercise of the inquisitive, pattern-seeking mind.
It goes without saying that the Romualdez media firms will go all-out in the presidential campaign of Bongbong Marcos in this 2022 election, even as they stand to earn millions in revenue from the usual political ads from all candidates.
$:PRIM opened at 1.82 and closed at 1.72 last Thursday, Oct. 28, down by 0.10 or 5.49 percent.
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