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