Salim to sell PLDT stake

Salim to sell PLDT stake

The Salim Group has agreed to sell their controlling
shareholding in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PHI) and
the Fort Bonifacio central business district to Philippine tycoon
John Gokongwei, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Friday.

The Salim's interest in the Philippines is held by its Hong
Kong-based holding company First Pacific Co. (H.FPC), which has a
31.5 percent voting interest in PLDT and controls the majority of
Metro Pacific's Fort Bonifacio project in Manila.

The sale was forged apparently over the objection of the Salim
Group's point man in the Philippines, PLDT and Bonifacio Land
Corp. president and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan, according
to official sources quoted in the report.

Pangilinan arrived from Tokyo Thursday evening, where he was
supposed to have met with PLDT partner NTT Communications to
apprise them of the Gokongwei-Salim deal. NTT Communications has
a 15 percent stake in PLDT.

"In effect, the low-key Salims have decided to cut their
losses and agreed to sell their crown jewels in the Philippines
to an offshore company controlled by Gokongwei," the report said.

The agreement was apparently hatched by Gokongwei and the
Salim Group themselves, with both parties signing a memorandum of
agreement unaided by the usual coterie of investment bankers, the
report said.

According to the grapevine, Pangilinan was present, despite
his objections, during the final stages of the negotiation, which
was concluded overseas last week, apparently in Hong Kong, the
report said.

The report was made by business columnist Victor Agustin, a
former central bank spokesman. -- Dowjones