June 14, 2016
– The $1.5 billion deal struck by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) and Globe Telecom Inc to buy San Miguel Corp telecoms assets does not violate the country’s anti-competition law, a PLDT official said.
Ray Espinosa, the head of the company’s regulatory affairs and policies office, told shareholders at PLDT’s annual meeting that the deal paves the way for “faster, more reliable internet services, which is the main concern of the government”. PLDT and Globe Telecom agreed the deal with San Miguel late last month, pledging to invest heavily to boost snail-pace internet service in the country’s biggest acquisition in nearly three years.
The deal came soon after the country’s then-incoming leader, Rodrigo Duterte, warned that he may ease rules on foreign ownership of firms to stoke one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, plagued by chronically slow internet speeds.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)