Commentary: Is Speaker Romualdez’s company the new investor of Dennis Uy’s DITO?

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Analysis and Recommendation

Udenna Corp.’s stake in DITO shrinks to 7.65%

The DITO stake held by Udenna Corp, the private holding company of DITO founder Dennis Uy, has shrank to 7.65% from 58.47%, according to the company’s latest filing of its list of Top 100 shareholders. Another Uy holding company, Dennison Holdings, decreased its stake from to 2.03% from 2.34% at the end of June.

This was following the entry of two newly-created Singapore-based entities, Summit Telco Corp. and Xterra Ventures, which emerged with 9.79% and 3.76% respectively. Note that the report only shows the names for shareholders with certificated holdings and not for shares lodged with a broker.

Is Romualdez’s RYM the new DITO white knight?

While we cannot definitively identify who are the people behind Summit Telco and Xterra Ventures, the shareholder report shows that one brokerage house had a substantial increase in DITO shares lodged under its accounts: Armstrong Securities, Inc. (ASI).

The report showed that its clients held 6.9-Billion DITO shares as of September 29, from zero at the end of June. A quick search of the broker’s history showed that ownership of ASI was sold by BDO Strategic Holdings and Golden Maple Holdings in July 2022 to RYM Business Management, MNM Capital, and ISky Empire Realty, Inc.

If RYM Business Management sounds familiar, it is the private holding company of House Speaker Romualdez which has been making waves recently after buying a 20% stake in construction firm EEI Corp. (EEI) and forming a joint venture with disenfranchised broadcasted ABS-CBN Corp. (ABS) via its listed media firm Prime Media Holdings (PRIM).

Dennis Uy making an exit soon?

Summit and Xterra has reportedly infused $39-Million into DITO, but this falls short of the $500-Million capital commitment that DITO made when it was granted its telco franchise during the previous administration.

It seems that another “strategic investor” is needed and this may result in a change of ownership, with Dennis Uy eventually making his exit as he did from 2Go Group (2GO) in 2021. This anticipation could be driving DITO’s price action in recent weeks, which saw its share price almost double from P1.99 to P3.66 in a span of one month.

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