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Subject: The Gozon-Jimenez talkfest ( GMA-7) Author: Victor Agustin/ Inquirer News Service [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 15:52:07 05/31/05 Tue The Gozon-Jimenez talkfest Posted: Mar. 14, 2005 Victor Agustin/ Inquirer News Service THE BOARD of GMA Network meets only four times a year, and its executive committee once a month, but it seems the private company now wants to conduct its boardroom disagreements daily, and in public at that. GMA chair/president/CEO Felipe Gozon fired off an immediate rejoinder last Friday, the same day that the letter of his nephew and fellow board member Joel Marcelo Jimenez appeared in this column. In that letter, the Jimenezes explained why they were opposed to the shareholder agreement that Gozon wanted the three families controlling the network to sign before the planned GMA public offering. Gozon expressed surprise over his relatives' rejection since the listing terms had been discussed by the excom as early as October 2004, and that Jimenez, he said, raised no objection in that and subsequent meetings. "While the minutes were not signed and returned by Joel Jimenez, the majority shareholders did not think that the Jimenez shareholders changed their minds because they had also delayed the return of the minutes many times in the past," Gozon said. Even though the Gozons control only 30 percent of the country's most profitable network, as against the Jimenezes and the Duavits owning 35 percent each, the Duavit and Gozon camps have referred to themselves as the majority, after the unexpected "retirement" of long-serving GMA chair/CEO Menardo Jimenez in December 2000. "The minority cannot expect to get better treatment than the majority shareholders who will be subject to the same terms and conditions, and whose only purpose is to maintain control of the company after the IPO, which control they already had before the IPO, " Gozon added. According to the Jimenez camp, the problem with the Gozon-crafted shareholder agreement is that it prohibits the three families from buying or selling GMA shares for an extended period of time, long after the listing. As it is now, each family is required to offer its block to each other first, before offering to sell the shareholdings to outsiders. "Usually when a company goes IPO, the shareholders would want the flexibility to buy and sell their shares after the six-month holdout period prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Commission," Jimenez said. To make a long story short, the Jimenez camp wants the option to sell its entire block to, say, PLDT's Manuel V. Pangilinan, to whom it is already in bed with, or any other higher bidder. But Pangilinan had already said he and his group would only acquire GMA 7 if they could obtain majority control. To make this happen, MVP would need one other family to swing and agree to sell out. Now, between the Gozons and Duavits, who could it be? =================================== (Editor's note: GMA Network is a parent company of INQ7.net) =================================== Interesting.. ;) [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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[> Subject: Now showing: Family feud on GMA Network Author: Victor Agustin/ Inquirer News Service [Edit] Date Posted: 15:53:51 05/31/05 Tue " Now showing: Family feud on GMA Network " Mar. 09, 2005 /Victor Agustin/ Inquirer News Service UNRESOLVED boardroom issues between the related Gozon and Jimenez families, which could lead to another management shakeup, has prompted GMA Network Inc. to postpone indefinitely its already delayed initial public offering (IPO) of stock. "The majority owners of the network wanted to give the public the chance to become shareholders of a company which engages in public service, through the IPO, without losing management control of the company," GMA Network said in a statement. The putative P9-billion IPO offering would be on hold "until certain issues between the majority and minority shareholders are satisfactorily resolved." Despite the corporate tone of the statement, only three individuals actually control the country's leading television network: chairman/president/CEO Felipe Gozon with his 30 percent, his brother-in-law Menardo Jimenez whom he ousted in December 2000 with another 30 percent, and former Rep. Gilberto Duavit, controlling the swing 35 percent block. As late as September 2004, when GMA Network was on a pre-IPO publicity blitz, Gozon sounded confident that he would retain control of the network despite a plan for each bloc to divest proportionately; after all, it was on Gozon's watch that GMA Network's fortunes rose to overtake the erstwhile No. 1 moneymaker, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. GMA Network, Gozon said at that time, was planning to offer about 20-30 percent of its stock, both locally and through American depository receipts. "We will have at least 50+1 percent stake (post-IPO)," Gozon was quoted as saying. "I will not lose control of the company." "If I were Nards Jimenez, I'd be very happy and ecstatic, because the market value of the whole company and his stocks have now doubled under my administration," he added. Though he has kept himself inaccessible to the media, Jimenez has been heard complaining to his close friends about his sudden fall from grace. To keep himself from moping after his ouster, Jimenez joined ABC Channel 5 owner Antonio Cojuangco Jr. and former internal revenue commissioner Dakila Fonacier to establish a network of theater-anchored strip malls in select areas nationwide. That venture has yet to meet shareholder expectations. Although he has resigned from the GMA Network board, Jimenez, who is married to a sister of Gozon's, still wants to push through with the IPO, but apparently under certain conditions. According to the grapevine, the two Jimenez children in the board, Laura Jimenez-Westfall and Joel Marcelo Jimenez, submitted a list of shareholder demands at the last board meeting, prompting their chairman-uncle, who was said to have been surprised by the last-minute change of mind, to suspend the listing indefinitely. [Editor's note: INQ7.net is a joint venture of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA Network Inc.] >=================================== > > > >Interesting.. > >;) [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: GMA Network postpones IPO indefinitely Author: GMA-7 news on-line [Edit] Date Posted: 15:54:56 05/31/05 Tue GMA Network postpones IPO indefinitely Posted: 3:32 PM | Mar. 08, 2005 Get INQ7 business breaking news on your Smart mobile phone in the Philippines. Send EXTRA BUSINESS to 386. (UPDATE) GMA Network Inc. said it has postponed indefinitely its initial public offering (IPO), previously scheduled for the second quarter of this year, until certain issues between the majority and minority shareholders are satisfactorily resolved. "The network will try to work out a solution that will be in the best interest of the company," the broadcasting company said in a statement, without elaborating. GMA earlier appointed Deutsche Bank and ATR-Kim Eng Securities as joint lead underwriters for the IPO involving as much as 30 percent of its shares, from which it expects to generate about 9 billion pesos. "The majority owners of the network wanted to give the public the chance to become shareholders of a company which engages in public service, through the IPO, without losing management control of the company," GMA Network said. GMA said it has implemented its planned expansion projects ahead of the IPO, including the launching of its international channel in the US and other territories, the upgrading of its transmitter and other facilities in key cities in the provinces, and the preparations in line with its co-production and blocktime agreement with Channel 11. The company said it has also completed its 180.2 million-peso broadcast automation systems project in January, which will service both local and international broadcast requirements of GMA Network. GMA said it would also build two studios within its compound that would house more programs including variety shows. GMA Network is a parent company of INQ7.net. (1 usd = 54.7 pesos) >>=================================== >> >> >> >>Interesting.. >> >>;) [ Post a Reply to This Message ]