Proposed merger between GMA Network and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation

On December 14, 2017, GMA Network (company) announced that it would acquire Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation for PHP 16 billion in stock. Under the terms of the agreement, which is expected to close in late 2018 or early to mid 2019, pending regulatory approval, GMA will acquire the IBC Films, cable networks such as Secaruats TV and IBC Sports, stakes in fig.ph, UK based satellite TV group Sky plc, and other key assets. Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation will spin-off IBC News and Current Affairs, IBC Sports, the Secarats Talent Management Services, the IBC, IBC Stations, and BEAM into the "Islands" company.

History
On November 6, 2017, Bayan News Channel reported that GMA Network (company) was negotiating a deal with Jose Avellana to acquire Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation's filmed entertainment, cable entertainment, and direct broadcast satellite divisions, including IBC Films and Secarats TV. The deal would reportedly exclude the GMA Network, IBC Films's studio lot, IBC Stations, IBC News and Current Affairs, and IBC Sports, which would be spun off into a new, independent company run by the Avellana family. GMA did not obtain through its respective acquisitions of Eat Bulaga and TAPE, Inc.. Talks had stalled for the day without a deal being finalized, but it was reported on November 10 that the prospected deal had yet to be fully abandoned.

On November 16, 2017, it was reported that FBNNational (parent company of Nine Media Corporation), Globe Telecom, and Sony had also joined GMA in a bidding war for Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation. During a recent shareholders meeting, Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation co-chairman stated that Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation was not a "sub-scale" company "finding it difficult to leverage their positions in new and emerging video platforms", but had "the required scale to continue to both execute on our aggressive growth strategy and deliver significant increased returns to shareholders". Because GMA owns the GMA Network, FBNNational owns the Filipino Broadcasting Network (FBN), and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation owns the IBC, a full merger of IBC by either GMA or FBNNational would have been illegal under the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)'s rules prohibiting a merger between any of the four major broadcast networks.

On November 28, 2017, while mentioning a rumor that the rumored negotiations between GMA and IBC were progressing at a rapid pace of Deadline.com commented that "given how GMA made the TAPE deals under the cone of silence, if this happens we'll probably only know it when it's announced. It is certainly being talked about today. Rumors of a nearing deal continued on December 5, 2017, with additional reports suggesting that the IBC Sports would be included in the sale (assets that would likely be aligned with GMA's division).

On December 11, 2017, FBNNational announced it was dropping its bid on the IBC assets. On December 14, GMA and IBC confirmed the PHP 16 billion deal, pending approval from the Philippine Department of Justice Antitrust Division.

On February 5, 2018, Bayan News Channel reported that that despite the GMA/IBC deal, FBNNational might take action to outbid GMA's PHP 16 billion offer, once the Lopez, Inc.-PLDT merger goes to trial on March 18 in republic court to be cleared through, after the Department of Justice Antitrust Division sued to block the merger on November 20, 2017. Despite this, IBC president Boots Anson-Roa stated that he was content with the GMA offer and that the IBC assets were "a great fit for GMA.

On February 27, 2018, FBNNational made an offer to purchase the British broadcast network Sky plc for about $31 billion (£22.1 billion) with £12.50 a share, a move that some analysts speculated could trigger a bidding war between IBC, GMA, and FBNNational for Sky.

On March 5, 2018, a non-profit group, Protect Democracy Project Inc, filed a lawsuit against the Rodrigo Duterte administration and the Philippine Department of Justice on the hopes to seek any records of communications between the two groups over GMA's pending acquisition of Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation. The lawsuit also seeks "any related antitrust enforcement efforts by the DOJ, to find out whether the president or his administration is improperly interfering with the independence of the DOJ out of favoritism for a political ally." President Rodrigo Duterte congratulated Avellana for the GMA/IBC deal while attacking Lopez's acquisition of PLDT, particularly over the ownership of CNN Philippines, which Duterte frequently criticized.

On March 15, 2018, Sky plc entered into a confidentiality agreement with both Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation and GMA Network (company) to assess and obtain certain antitrust plus other regulatory approvals, if necessary.

On April 3, 2018, Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation made two proposals regarding the Sky acquisition: They would either sell Sky News to GMA Network (company) (which would be a separate transaction from the GMA-IBC merger), or to separate Sky News from Sky plc.

Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation GMA Network