The Philippine Star writes that Globe Telecom, a joint venture between locally owned conglomerate Ayala Corp and Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), has purchased close to 92% of the total outstanding debt of Lopez-controlled Bayan Telecommunications (Bayan). Globe issued a statement saying that as at 27 November, around 91.6% of the total principal amount of notes (worth USD184.5 million) ‘appears to have been tendered and not withdrawn’.
As reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, earlier this month Globe Telecom offered to acquire Bayan’s debt from its creditors, ahead of a move to buy out the company. In a stock market filing Globe confirmed that it launched the tender offer to buy 100% of Bayan’s debt – including the liabilities of its Radio Communications Inc subsidiary. The offer was conditional on it receiving the acceptance of 70% of holders of Bayan’s USD200 million of senior notes – originally due in 2006. Subsequently, Globe announced that it had extended the early tender date to 18 December, instead of the first extension of 27 November.
Globe CFO Albert de Larrazabal has gone on record to confirm that the telco would become the major creditor of Bayan and will perform the roles of Bayan’s creditors in respect to the rehabilitation plan. ‘Potentially combining Globe’s assets and capabilities with [Bayan] through collaborative business efforts will enable both companies to become more competitive and will help accelerate the completion of Bayan’s rehabilitation,’ he said.