ABS-CBN confirms talks with Rockwell Land for headquarters demolition, redevelopment

MANILA, Philippines – Media company ABS-CBN is in talks with fellow Lopez-owned property developer Rockwell Land to demolish and redevelop its headquarters in Quezon City.

ABS-CBN told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, March 13, that it has been in discussions with real estate developers “even prior to the start of the pandemic” for the redevelopment of its 3.4-hectare property in Mother Ignacia Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City, which houses its news and entertainment studios. 

ABS-CBN did not elaborate further where it intends to relocate its workforce and studios that would be affected by the redevelopment. It has other buildings in the compound, including the Eugenio Lopez Jr. or ELJ Center, which is leased to its other subsidiaries and other companies.

The Kapamilya network, however, noted that “no deal has been agreed upon at this time.”

Fellow Lopez-owned company Rockwell Land also released a similar statement and confirmed parts of the report of online news outfit Bilyonaryo.

“Rockwell Land continuously searches for properties to develop in the usual course of its business. Rockwell Land has been studying the possibility of redeveloping the ABS-CBN property even prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the property developer said.

While the two companies noted that the planned redevelopment was floated even before the pandemic, and effectively before the non-renewal of its broadcast franchise, ABS-CBN’s financial statements point to the need for such drastic moves now.

Since ABS-CBN was denied a franchise renewal by the lower House in 2020 under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, the network has greatly reduced its workforce, rationalized capital expenditures, and shifted to producing content for its online platforms and placing these in other TV networks.

In 2021, ABS-CBN reached a standstill agreement with existing lenders and put up P14.56 billion worth of assets as collateral. Most of the loans required ABS-CBN to possess a government franchise. (READ: TIMELINE: NTC distributes ABS-CBN frequencies)

As of 2021, ABS-CBN’s interest bearing loans totaled P15.6 billion.

ABS-CBN has yet to report its earnings for the entire 2022. As of the first nine months of last year, the media company reported losses of P1.8 billion, 50.5% less than its losses of P3.78 billion during the same period in 2021.

Revenues slightly improved by 12.6% in the first three quarters of 2022 to P14.3 billion. – Rappler.com