ABS-CBN Corp. said on Wednesday its shareholders have approved the P6-billion fresh investment in the company, clearing the way for the issuance of additional shares to the new investors and the expansion of its board.
The new capital, announced in August, will come from Crème Investment Corp., Mantes Corp., and Presta Holding Company Inc., which represent three branches of the Lopez family, as well as from Lopez Inc. and new investor IandC Holdings Corp.
Stockholders also approved increasing the ABS-CBN Board of Directors to nine from seven members to make room for representatives of the additional investors.
The proposals were approved by stockholders representing 83 percent of ABS-CBN’s outstanding voting shares.
The approved amendments to ABS-CBN’s Articles of Incorporation, which cover the increase in the number of shares the company may issue and the expansion of its board, will be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approval.
ABS-CBN earlier said the new investments are part of its continuing efforts to build ‘the new ABS-CBN.’
The company expects its current momentum to carry the company back to profitability after slashing its debt by more than half, cutting overhead spending by 54 percent, and rebuilding revenues to their highest level since it lost its broadcast franchise in 2020.
The media conglomerate has brought down its outstanding debt to just under P8.5 billion from P20.5 billion in 2019, excluding Sky Cable Corp.-a 58-percent reduction achieved largely through asset sales, ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Katigbak said.
The company has also fundamentally restructured its cost base. General and administrative expenses and manpower costs, excluding Sky, fell to a combined P6.9 billion in 2025 from P15 billion in 2019, before the franchise loss.
Revenues excluding Sky reached P12.6 billion last year, the highest since the shutdown of its free-to-air operations. This compares with P9.3 billion in 2021, the first full year without a franchise, though still well below the P33.2 billion it generated in 2019.
Recurring net loss excluding Sky, before one-time gains and losses, narrowed to P2.5 billion in 2025 from P8.3 billion in 2020, with losses shrinking every year since.