It has been a busy month in the local corporate scene, with major merger-and-acquisition deals coming to fruition, capped by last Friday?s announcement by the PLDT group of its plan to acquire over 30 percent of Manila Electric Co.

White knight Manuel V. Pangilinan, or MVP, chairman of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., struck an agreement with the Lopez group to team up and fend off a likely management takeover attempt from food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

The MVP-Lopez alliance was not a surprise. MVP, through Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and the Lopez group had forged similar sale agreements recently. Metro Pacific, together with DMCI Holdings, beat San Miguel in the last minute to wrest control of erstwhile Lopez-owned Maynilad Water Services Inc., which operates the western zone of Metro Manila.

MVP?s group also bought First Philippine Infrastructure Inc., the Lopez company that owned the concession to operate the North Luzon Expressway.

The MVP-Lopez partnership will likely grow, amid the current financial problems of the Lopez group and the PLDT group?s excess cash position. The grapevine said the Meralco deal could just be a prelude to ?higher stakes? that MVP has been eyeing for so long.

?MVP?s group will likely bid for ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. A partnership with the Lopez group is not far-fetched. MVP?s group can be a strategic partner in the leading broadcasting company. The Lopez group, meanwhile, can fix its finances and reduce some of its debt with the investment coming from the PLDT group,? a source told this writer.

PLDT?s media presence

A possible equity investment in ABS-CBN will shore up the stake of the PLDT group in the media sector and, as in the case of the Meralco deal, open up ?significant opportunities for operational and business synergies and result in new revenue streams and cost savings for both organizations.?

The PLDT group already controls 30 percent of business paper BusinessWorld and is about to formalize its majority acquisition of The Philippine Star, one of the country?s top three broadsheets. The grapevine said the PLDT group will pay over P4 billion to the family of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano ?Sonny? Belmonte Jr. in April in exchange for an 80 percent control of the paper.

MVP?s interest in a major broadcasting network dates back a few years ago, when his group tried to buy into GMA Network Inc. of the Gozon-Duavit-Jimenez triumvirate. The deal fell through and GMA Network eventually listed its shares in the stock market to raise funds.

Another telecom battle

The PLDT group, meanwhile, could be drawn into the battle for control of Express Telecommunications Co., or Extelcom, which is seeking a re-entry into the mobile phone business.

The Lopez group?s Bayan Telecommunications is attempting to regain its original 46 percent stake in Extelcom after the shares held by unit Marifil Holdings Corp. was diluted to 8 percent.

Trans Digital Excel Inc., the creditor-turned-shareholder of Extelcom, is fending off BayanTel?s attempt to regain control of BayanTel. Trans Digital, it turns out, is owned by investment banker and former Trade minister Roberto ?Bobby? Ongpin, who recently brokered the sale of Saudi Aramco shares in Petron to London-listed Ashmore group.

Bobby?s Trans Digital acquired the interest of Millicom Cellular and Mayon Holdings of GMA network chairman Felipe Gozon. (Story on B1)

BayanTel, the grapevine said, could seek the help of MVP in regaining control of Extelcom for legitimate reasons. ?Extelcom?s frequency value is the same as Piltel?s, which will be eventually assumed by Smart Communications. Extelcom, in short, is valuable to the PLDT group and there?s synergy there,? the same source said.

The entry of the PLDT group in the Extelcom row will again pit MVP against his rival, San Miguel president Ramon Ang. The San Miguel executive earlier confirmed that his company was in negotiations with the management of Extelcom, led by Trans Digital, for the acquisition of Extelcom. BayanTel suspects that Trans Digital has already sold its rights in Extelcom to the San Miguel group for an undisclosed profit.

Bobby, meanwhile, could be caught in the crossfire. Bobby is chummy to both MVP and Ang.

Smart Communications bought Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise, a telecom company linked to Bobby, for over P419 million. Smart acquired the entire issued and outstanding capital stock of PH Communications Holdings Corp. and Francom Holdings Inc., which own 100 percent of CURE. The deal effectively gave Smart a second third-generation frequency.

Bobby was also instrumental in bringing MVP to the board of Philex Mining.

Ongpin, on the other hand, played a key role in handing Ashmore?s shares in Petron to San Miguel and has teamed up with Ang in gaining a combined 37 percent control of Meralco, through Global 5000 Holdings.

E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or business@manilanstandardtoday.com