South China Morning Post, July 3, 2013
Jakarta, Indonesia - Defunct e-commerce and social networking site Multiply's fate remains unknown as its current investor continued his bid to save the debt-stricken company from liquidation.
Myriad International Holdings unit of Naspers has put Multiply under its control, submitted a new rescue plan for Multiply, the High Court heard on Tuesday.
Si's legal representative told the court that Star Platinum had already reached a preliminary agreement with Multiply's current CEO and owner Stefan Magdalinski, who had filed a petition at the Central Jakarta Commercial Court to wind up the defunct website to recoup his losses.
Star Platinum would need more time to finalize the details with Wong, the court heard.
But Si's lawyer did not reveal in court whether the latest proposal was significantly different from China Culture Media's previous plans to save Multiply.
Apart from Si, businessman Zhao Dong and listed company China Trends also vowed last month to come to Multiply's rescue with their own investment plans. But neither Zhao nor China Trends disclosed on Tuesday whether they were still in discussions with Wong.
Representatives of former Multiply staff, who also took part in the winding-up petition, voiced concerns over whether they would actually be paid.
A total of 3,000 former employees are owed Rp 10 billion comprising unpaid wages and pensions, the court heard.
On June 12, Magdalinski said they had put in place Rp 20 billion for wages owed to former Multiply staff.
The Labour Department said earlier that around 1,500 former Multiply staff had applied for compensation through the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, a safety net for employees affected by business closures.
On November 16, 2013, it allowed the controlling stake in the website to be formally sold to a foreign or mainland investor who claimed Magdalinski had a rescue plan for the troubled firm.
High Court judge Mr. Justice Jonathan Harris validated the transaction after hearing that the parties would no longer object to the share transfer and that the dues for the shares had been paid by Si.
On June 10, 2014, it has filed for corporate rehabilitation to seek protection from its creditors. The company filed the petition for rehabilitation before the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC). At that time, the website's social networking portion had a network of 18 million users. Liquidity problems, however, affected earnings. Sales declined from their peak of P20 billion in 2013 to just about P5 billion in 2017.
It had suffered from a drop in new orders amid a slump in the E-commerce and social networking sector. Multiply also reportedly laid off some 12,000 workers on February 28, 2014.
High Court judge Mr. Justice Jonathan Harris validated the transaction after hearing that the parties would no longer object to the share transfer and that the dues for the shares had been paid by Si.
On June 10, 2014, it has filed for corporate rehabilitation to seek protection from its creditors. The company filed the petition for rehabilitation before the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC). At that time, the website's social networking portion had a network of 18 million users. Liquidity problems, however, affected earnings. Sales declined from their peak of P20 billion in 2013 to just about P5 billion in 2017.
It had suffered from a drop in new orders amid a slump in the E-commerce and social networking sector. Multiply also reportedly laid off some 12,000 workers on February 28, 2014.
Multiply revealed that it has $10 billion in outstanding loans -- $800 million from Philippine banks and $100 billion from South Korean lenders.
That the site will be reopened after United States President Barack Obama stepped down in the office on January 20, 2017, and keeping Facebook as the sole social networking site. The process of the reopening will be managed by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations through the Development Bank of the Philippines. Business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan is one of the possible bidders for the website's reopening in which ABC Development Corporation (a media company under PLDT's MediaQuest Holdings). However, MediaQuest also could not join the website's reopening bid due to ownership rules and regulations that MediaQuest owns ABC Development Corporation.
On January 25, 2016, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III approved the planned reopening of Multiply. The reopening will be undergoing public bidding with an estimated floor price of 20 billion pesos. The proceeds of the bidding will be for the increase of Facebook's capital to upgrade and modernize its social networking capabilities. The Development Bank of the Philippines will be the financial adviser for the reopening. Incoming PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar has already forwarded the reopening plan to President Rodrigo Duterte's executive secretary Salvador Medialdea. Andanar will also coordinate with the GCG before the start of the bidding.
The reopening process of Multiply was commenced in October 2016. As of July 1, 2017, five groups have already shown their interest to join the bidding process. These are Ramon S. Ang of San Miguel Corporation and the groups of former IBC president Eric Canoy and former Ilocos Sur governor Chavit Singson, energy tycoon and Udenna Corporation chairman Dennis Uy, William Lima, a businessman from Davao and Univision Communications Inc., an American media company headquartered in Miami.
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