Their hands were still warm from shaking on the deal yesterday when a couple of insiders tipped off InsiderPH that Uy had agreed to come in to help right Sky Cable’s listing vessel which was in real danger of capsizing due to its financial liabilities.
But wait. It’s not going to happen in the form of an outright acquisition by the Pampanga-based billionaire who, himself, has his start in the road to tycoon status by operating a small cable firm in Angeles City.
We’re told that, under the “technical cooperations agreement”, Sky Cable will be given a free ride on Converge’s sprawling fiberoptic internet network, in effect converting the country’s largest cable television company from its current coaxial cable network to a fully internet protocol television (IPTV) scheme.
That means Sky Cable clients will no longer have copper wires connected to their TV boxes but will, instead, be moved to the new technology where television programs will be streamed over high speed internet to new digital boxes that will be installed in their homes.
Note, of course, that Converge already launched a service like this last year and has since made significant headway in capturing market share at the cost of only P99 a month for the basic package or P299 for the full service — substantially cheaper than Sky Cable’s current offerings.
But what about the Lopez firm’s substantial bank dents and its liabilities to its retiring employees (some of whom have been with the firm for decades and are just waiting for their retirement packages)? Well, that’s where Uy comes in.
InsiderPH heard that Uy will extend a financial lifeline — rumored to be in the vicinity of P2 billion — to Sky Cable in his personal capacity, which Converge will not be a party to.
“Think of it as a personal loan by Dennis to Sky Cable,” one insider said.
What’s the rationale for this move? The insider explained that it makes no sense of Uy (an astute businessman who knows the cable industry well) to buy Sky Cable at this point given the firm’s massive problems.
“So instead, he’s given the Lopezes a loan, so that they can fix up Sky Cable and get it back on its feet.” By “fix up”, the source basically meant paying off as much liabilities as possible and having banks restructure the rest.
The loan won’t be a one-time transfer, too, as we heard that Uy will disburse it in tranches subject to specific performance milestones.
And who will be monitoring those milestones? We heard that Uy will be installing some key people in Sky Cable’s management to make sure that his money is being spent the way it should be.
Once the firm is cleaned up, that’s the only time Uy and the Lopezes will talk about the former buying Sky Cable from the latter, we’re told.
So is it a win-win deal? It looks like it’s more of a WIN (in bold and capital letters) for Uy, and a win (in lower case) for the Lopezes. But hey, no one’s complaining.
Senior Reporter
