Dennis Uy’s Clark Global City debt woes ‘settled,’ Udenna says

The obligations of Davao City-based tycoon Dennis Uy’s firm, which develops the Clark Global City, has been settled ahead of schedule, Uy’s conglomerate Udenna Corporation said Monday.

“In relation to the various reports recently published, which involved Clark Global City Corporation (CGCC), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), and a consortium of banks led by BDO Unibank, we wish to announce that Udenna Corporation settled the matter today, July 25, 2022, prior to the mandated deadline, and to the satisfaction of the majority lender and the consortium banks,” Udenna said in a statement.

The conglomerate issued the statement amid reports that it received a Notice of Declaration of Default on Friday from a consortium of banks led by BDO as the majority lender against Clark Global City Corp. (CGCC).

CGCC is a unit of Udenna.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, BDO confirmed, as majority lender, it has issued a Notice of Default on CGCC “in relation to its obligations under the Master Lease Agreement between CIAC and Global Gateway Development Corporation (GGDC), a subsidiary of CGCC.

The lender said that “relevant obligations of CGCC to BDO are secured and a default will not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition and business of BDO.”

Likewise, Udenna said that the Declaration of Default was in relation to certain obligations of GGDC with CIAC, which are due only on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.

“To be clear, CGCC or GGDC did not fail to make any interest or principal repayments with its debt to the consortium banks, and thus, in contention, CGCC replied to the consortium banks to dispute the default conclusion, and clarified that, under the circumstances, there has been, in fact, no Event of Default or, at the very least, no irremediable Event of Default, under the Master Lease Agreement on the part of CGCC or GGDC,” the company said.

“The financial liability stated was not a liability to the consortium banks, but an obligation of GGDC to CIAC, which, as stated above, has already been settled,” it said.

After Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016, Uy — a top campaign donor of the former president in the 2016 elections — expanded his empire through debt-funded acquisitions and ventures, including the takeover of the Malampaya facility, establishing the third telco, DITO, and acquiring several companies such as Familymart, Conti’s, and Enderun.

Duterte's six-year term ended on June 30.—AOL, GMA News