MANILA, The Philippines-Bayantel Communications is keen on pushing through with its plan to establish its own mobile-phone business, stating it is negotiating with a potential joint venture partner that it describes only as an Asia-Pacific consortium.
Gary Olivar, Bayantel chief financial officer, said in a statement that an agreement with the unnamed group may be ready by the first half of this year. He further stated that Bayantel is so far satisfied with the group’s financial and technical resources. A number of structures have been identified, but nothing is final yet.
Olivar added that Bayantel wanted the potential group to bear the bulk of the funding for the mobile-phone project. He, however, did not specify the amount needed for the project.
Olivar admitted that parent company Benpres Holdings is not in a position to support Bayantel’s funding needs. Benpres is currently negotiating with creditors for the restructuring of its US$596.9 million debt.
