Liberty overhauls mngm’t

PLDT Inc.’s Ray Espinosa and Globe Telecom Inc.’s Gilbert Simpao have been named copresident and co-chair of Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc. (LTHI).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), LTHI said the firm has elected a new set of officers as PLDT and Globe officially took over its management and operations.

LTHI is a subsidiary of Vega Telecom Inc. (VTI) which is part of assets jointly purchased by PLDT and Globe from San Miguel Corp. in May.

The deal which also included the purchase of New Century Telecoms Inc. and eTelco Inc., is under review by the Philippine Competition Commission to ensure such would not hinder competition.

Aside from Espinosa, who heads the regulatory affairs and policies office of PLDT, and Simpao, who is senior vice president at Globe, the other elected officers of LTHI are Leo Posadas (treasurer), Carmeli Pauline Briones (chief financial officer and co-controller), June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla (cocontroller), Mary Rose dela Paz (co-general manager), Ramon Nonato Aesquivel (co-general manager), and Grace dela Cruz (corporate secretary).

Espinosa and Simpao have also been elected as new directors of the LTHI board along with PLDT chief finance officer Anabelle Chua, PLDT executive vice president Ernesto Alberto, as well as Globe’s Jan Lester Olaño and Aesquivel.

Former chief justice Artemio Panganiban and Teresa Kong, meanwhile, have been elected as independent directors.

LTHI stockholders also approved to increase the number of the firm’s directors to eight from seven.

Earlier, VTI announced a tender offer would be conducted for the remaining common shares of LTHI within the third quarter.

Section 19 of the implementing rules of the Securities Regulation Code provides that the acquisition resulting in ownership of over 50 percent of the total shares of a public company would require the acquiring party to make a tender offer to all remaining stockholders at a price supported by a fairness opinion provided by an independent financial advisor or third party.

PLDT and Globe also said earlier they would pursue the delisting of LTHI’s shares from the PSE this year.

Espinosa said the firms are still consulting the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the tender offer.

“That’s supposed to be the plan (third quarter tender offer). We still need to hear back from the SEC,” he said.

As of end- June, LTHI incurred a net loss of P157.82 million, lower than the P426.93 million in the same period last year.