In an announcement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, national telecoms group PLDT Inc. has proposed the 100% acquisition of the fibre broadband business and related assets of smaller rival Sky Cable Corporation, part of the Filipino media and entertainment group ABS-CBN Corp. On 16 March 2023 PLDT entered into an agreement with the target company’s joint majority owners – Sky Vision, ABS-CBN and Lopez – to purchase 100% of Sky Cable’s total issued and outstanding capital stock for PHP6.75 billion (USD123 million), subject to certain conditions including the ’termination or cessation of operations by Sky of its pay-TV and cable businesses’, alongside regulatory approval.
If the deal is completed PLDT will concentrate on developing its new subsidiary’s fibre broadband (‘SKY Fiber’) network operations. The stock exchange filing declared that the transaction will strengthen and expand PLDT/Sky broadband coverage, particularly in remote areas, and ‘upgrade overall customer experience’ through the combined expertise, resources and capabilities of PLDT and Sky. "TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database":https://www2.telegeography.com/en/globalcomms-database-service notes that Sky’s fibre broadband service is available to two million households in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Baguio, Cebu, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, General Santos and Zamboanga.
Leading up to the 100% merger deal, in August 2022 PLDT purchased a minority (38.88%) stake in Sky Cable for PHP2.8 billion.
Sky’s website as of 17 March 2023 carried the following message for its cable-based customers: ‘We wish to inform you of PLDT’s agreement to acquire Sky Cable. While awaiting the required regulatory approvals, we assure you that [cable] broadband and cable TV services will continue. Once approvals are obtained, Sky Cable is committed to assisting all its cable TV subscribers to ensure a transition to their preferred service.’