PLDT unit completes sale of remaining Beacon stake

PLDT Communications and Energy Ventures (PCEV) has entered into a share purchase agreement with Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) to fully divest its shares in Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc., parent PLDT Inc. said Wednesday.

In a regulatory filing, PLDT said the remaining 25 percent equity interest in Beacon will be sold to MPIC for P21.8 billion.

MPIC will pay P12.0 billion in cash upon closing the deal, probably within the month, and the P9.8 billion balance will be paid over the next four years. MPIC will eventually own 100 percent of Beacon.

Through Beacon, MPIC will also acquire a 35 percent stake in the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to raise its equity stake in the utilities company to 45.5 percent.

MPIC will also effectively have a 62.4 percent stake in Global Power.

Early last year, MPIC acquired PLDT's 25 percent stake in Beacon for P26.2 billion.

A special purpose company, Beacon is jointly owned by PCEV and MPIC. Beacon holds a 35 percent interest in Meralco and 56 percent in Global Business Power Corporation.

PCEV is a holding company owned 99.9 percent by Smart Communications Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLDT.

"The divestment of our Beacon investment will help the PLDT group focus on the key priorities in its core businesses," PCEV Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan also sits as the chairman, president and CEO of PLDT, and chairman of MPIC.

The planned sale was announced in 2016, with proceeds of the transaction to be used by PLDT to pare down debt and partly pay for capital spending.

Pangilinan earlier said the company plans to sell the stake within the first half of 2017.

"While the investment is now viewed as no longer strategic, it has nonetheless been a very financially satisfying one. Proceeds from the sale will be used principally to reduce debt and to fund the ongoing network upgrade and expansion," he said.

In a separate filing, MPIC President and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim said the acquisition will boost MPIC's participation in the power sector.

"We are now free to accelerate our rate of participation in the Philippine power sector, building on our nationwide presence as we embrace distribution, thermal generation, renewables and energy from waste. The transactions announced today are also immediately accretive to earnings," he said.

"Upon completion, PCEV will no longer have any direct interest in Beacon and indirect interest in Meralco and Global Power," the filing read. – Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News