Pangilinan buying GMA 7 for P52.5B?

**awing** · July 9th, 2012 12:03 PM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/...ng-gma-7-p525b

MANILA, Philippines - GMA Network Inc. on Monday said its majority shareholders have not yet signed a deal with businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan regarding the sale of the company.

This comes after the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on Monday that Pangilinan is "moving closer to a deal to buy GMA 7 at an estimated price tag of P52.5 billion (around $1.3 billion)." The price was reportedly based on the "enterprise value" of GMA 7.

"We would like to inform the exchange and the public that the company is not the source of the information and that the company's majority shareholders have not signed anything with the supposed buyer," GMA 7 said, in a disclosure to the stock exchange, referring to the Inquirer report.

GMA 7's majority shareholders are the Jimenez, Duavit and Gozon families.

The Inquirer also reported that Pangilinan group will buy GMA 7 using Mediaquest Holdings Inc., a unit of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT. The deal will give it "close to 80% control" of GMA 7.

Earlier, Pangilinan said it expects the GMA 7 acquisition to be concluded within the year. He also said his group will pay for the acquisition in cash.