Manuel Pangilinan, one of the Philippines’ most powerful businessmen, is in talks to buy a second major television network as part of plans to build a media empire, he said in an interview aired on Friday.<\/p>\n
Pangilinan, whose sprawling business portfolio includes the country’s biggest telecommunications company, told ABS-CBN television he was in “very preliminary” stages of talks to buy the rival GMA network.<\/p>\n
“We believe that there’s a lot of synergies that can happen between a telco, which is a broad range of delivery platforms, and media, which is basically a content generator,” Pangilinan said.<\/p>\n
“The intent is to replicate what other media groups have done elsewhere in the world.”<\/p>\n
The 65-year-old is chairman of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which through a subsidiary owns TV5, the third major television network in the Philippines after ABS-CBN and GMA.<\/p>\n
The subsidiary also has minority stakes in at least two major Philippine newspapers.<\/p>\n
Listed GMA Network Inc. is controlled by several Philippine families and is capitalised at 32.53 billion pesos ($764 million).<\/p>\n
Its investor relations division declined to comment on Pangilinan’s remarks.<\/p>\n
Pangilinan also said he planned to invest his own money for a 5.0 percent stake in Rappler.com, a Manila-based Internet news startup.<\/p>\n
Former investment banker Pangilinan is managing director and chief executive of Hong Kong-listed First Pacific Co., controlled by Indonesia’s Salim family.<\/p>\n
Apart from PLDT, First Pacific’s Philippine investments include the country’s largest miner, Philex Mining, its top power distributor, Manila Electric Company, and Maynilad, one of two Manila tap water providers.<\/p>\n
Through First Pacific unit Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Pangilinan also runs most of the Philippines’ toll roads as well as its largest hospital chain.<\/p>\n
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