FirstPac wants to retain majority stake in PLDT

Hong-Kong based conglomerate First Pacific Co. wants to keep a majority stake in telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. even if it is negotiating the sale of a portion of its stake to Japanese firm NTT DoCoMo. “We need to keep the majority [stake in PLDT]," First Pacific managing director and CEO Manuel Pangilinan told reporters Tuesday. Pangilinan, also chairman of PLDT said they are still in negotiations with DoCoMo, one of PLDT’s major stakeholders. First Pacific recently acquired from the government a 6.4-percent indirect stake in PLDT held by the Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp. for P25.2 billion. First Pacific originally planned to purchase the stake together with DoCoMo, then split it equally between the two companies. The Japanese firm however, backed out of the plan. The 6.4 percent which First Pacific purchased has a current market value of P30 billion. “The shares are under discussion but in principle we would like to stick with the original amount," Pangilinan said. He said discussions with the Japanese firm will hopefully be concluded before the year ends. First Pacific owns 23 percent of PLDT while NTT DoCoMo, together with NTT Communications Corp., holds 13.4 percent of the telecom firm. - GMANews.TV