Globe to make final payment on SMC telcom assets

Globe Telecom Inc. is paying the final tranche in a co-acquisition deal involving the telecommunications assets of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), despite an appeal on the matter by the Philippine Competition Commission.

The telco intends to make the final payment at the end of May.

"The PCC right now is restrained from doing anything regarding the transaction, so it's business as usual for Globe," Globe General Counsel Froilan M. Castelo told reporters in a briefing in Taguig City on Wednesday.

Last month, the PCC asked the Supreme Court (SC) to lift an injunction on a review of the P69-billion co-acquisition deal between Globe and PLDT Inc. covering SMC's telecom assets.

The PCC wants the high court to stop Globe and PLDT from making the final payments until the antitrust watchdog has finished reviewing the deal.

Since no development has evolved regarding the case, Globe intends to settle its payable with SMC. "We're not restricted from proceeding," Castelo said. — VDS, GMA News