Ayala-led Globe Telecom has completed its takeover of Lopez-controlled ailing rival Bayan Telecommunications (Bayan) after buying out the cash-strapped firm’s debt holders. The move is expected to pave the way for Globe Telecom to make a formal equity investment in Bayan. In a stock market disclosure on 26 December, Globe confirmed that 98.26% of the aggregate ‘remaining principal amount’ of Bayan’s debts – along with 100% of Bayan subsidiary Radio Communications of the Philippines Inc (RCPI) – had been tendered and not withdrawn in the tender offer for the loans on 21 December 2012. The filing read: ‘The overall ‘Acceptance Level’, as such term is defined in the offer documents, is approximately 96.17%. All such tenders have been validated and accepted for purchase by Globe’.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, on 20 December Globe successfully completed its tender offer for Bayan’s debt papers, noting that around 92.9% of the latter’s notes were ‘tendered and not withdrawn’. At the time, Ayala-backed Globe said that once the debt offer is signed off on, it intends to amend the terms of Bayan’s rehabilitation plan and begin work on drafting a long-term and sustainable path for the Lopez-led company. Bayan has been in rehabilitation since 2003 and is expected to remain so until 2023.