MAJOR film and entertainment firm Viva Communications Inc. said Tuesday a chunk of the proceeds its initial public offering (IPO) next year will go to content creation and acquisition as well as pay for loans.

A revised prospectus Viva Communications filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that P242.78 million will be channeled to content creation and acquisition while some P403.78 million will pay for debts. Another P60 million will be set aside for production of concerts featuring local and foreign talents. The company expects to make P1.08 billion from its shares sale.

In a previous interview, BDO Capital and Investment Corp. president Ed Francisco said Viva Communications, owned by entertainment mogul Vic del Rosario Jr., is planning to sell 92.85 million new shares at an offer price range of P9.72 to P12.93 per share. The entertainment firm has tapped BDO Capital as lead underwriter for the offering.

Existing shareholders of Viva Communications will dispose of secondary shares numbering 49.99 million at the same offer price range. Using the maximum selling price of P12.93, the selling shareholders will get P646.5 million from the exercise.

After the IPO, 35 percent of the company will represent the public float, with the balance controlled by the del Rosario group.

The holding firm is composed of film production unit Viva Productions Inc., talent development and management company Viva Artists’ Agency and home video distributor Viva Video Inc.

It owns the largest collection of local movies that includes about 2,000 Viva-produced and acquired film and television clips.

Last year, around 2 percent of the holding firm’s licensing revenues came from international sales. The company is bullish of further growth as subscription numbers grow in its Filipino movie-cable channel Pinoy Box Office from viewers in Europe, Japan, Middle East and the US.

The company will soon join ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., GMA Network Inc. and Premier Entertainment Productions Inc. as among the diverse media/entertainment-related companies listed at the stock exchange.

MAJOR film and entertainment firm Viva Communications Inc. said Tuesday a chunk of the proceeds its initial public offering (IPO) next year will go to content creation and acquisition as well as pay for loans.

Empire East sees ’07 income up 10%

LISTED Empire East Land Holdings Inc., the affordable housing arm controlled by businessman Andrew Tan, expects to end the 2007 with a net income of P271.26 million, up 10 percent from P247 million a year earlier.

INSULAR Life, the largest Filipino life insurance company, said its gross premium income (GPI) from January to October this year reached P6.8 billion up 28 percent from a year earlier.

HONG KONG—Philippine stocks rose, pushing the benchmark index to a two-week high.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) and Megaworld Corp. advanced on continued speculation the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, helping avert a recession in the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest overseas market for labor and goods.

CHINA Banking Corp. (China Bank), plus other local banks signed a notes facility agreement with power producer Quezon Power Phils. Ltd. Co. to participate in the $100-million, seven-year, fixed-rate note facility arranged and underwritten by local-investment house BDO Capital and Investment Corp., a wholly-owned investment banking subsidiary of Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BDO).

WITH current globalization trend, it is timely to discuss the legal implications foreign equity of a corporation as regards ownership of private lands in our jurisdiction. Section 7, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution provides that save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands in the public domain.