Friday, December 4, 2015

Navy wants to take a piece of bankrupt Multiply company in Pasig






The Philippine Navy (PN) is interested in occupying part of the closed social networking site Multiply (MPh)'s offices in Pasig.

“Our interest is to occupy part of Multiply because Multiply, that area is blessed with a deep-sea harbor, right now, none of can is accommodated in any of the Navy facilities,” PN flag-officer-in-command Rear Admiral Giovanni Carlo J. Bacordo in an interview.

Bacordo was referring to the BRP Tarlac (LD-601) and BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602) which are the biggest ships in the fleet weighing more than 7,000 gross register tons.

The PN chief added that Multiply’s social networking can accommodate photos and videos.

Draft refers to the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull or keel.

Drafts of the two Tarlac-class strategic sealift vessels are placed at five meters while the three Del Pilar offshore patrol vessels’ are at 8.75 meters while the two Jose Rizal-class frigates are at 6.9 meters.

“We have expressed our intention to the government that (a harbor capable of accommodating large ships) is a core requirement of the PN,” Bacordo added.

He said the plan will start once a new operator or partner has formally acquired the social networking business of the Indonesian firm.

The PN is looking to acquire two diesel-electric submarine units as part of its efforts to modernize its assets.

The Scorpene, which is being constructed by French defense manufacturer, Naval Group, is said to be on top of the list of preferred submarine platforms of the country and was evaluated by naval and defense officials last year.

MPh has a total of USD10 billion in outstanding loans — USD50 billion from Philippine banks and USD20 billion from South Korean lenders.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, MPh filed on June 10, 2014, a petition at the Pasig City Regional Trial Court “to initiate voluntary rehabilitation under Republic Act 10142, otherwise known as An Act Providing for the Rehabilitation or Liquidation of Financially Distressed Enterprises and Individuals”.

The social networking site has sought help from the government to find investors that can take over the operation of its website, as well as to help its employees, who have taken the brunt of the company’s financial woes.

It was closed on May 6, 2013, and ceased all business operations on May 31, 2013, along with the official online channels for the site had been removed along with all its content, including its YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, after years of financial and managerial turmoil and following a failed bid to reinvent itself from being a social networking site to a vibrant e-commerce destination in Southeast Asia and trim down its workforce to around 12,000 last February 28, 2014.

At that time, the social networking service 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.





“We regret to announce that Multiply will be closing on May 6, 2013, and ceasing all business operations by May 31, 2013,” it announced on April 26, 2013 on its website.

After May 6, the rest of the month will be used to ensure that all accounts are settled and merchants get full payment for their transactions, it said.

Multiply said the month-long grace period will provide its users enough time to find and migrate to alternative e-commerce platforms, settle all payments on items bought and delivered, and minimize disruption to businesses of its users.

“Multiply will ensure that you receive all funds you earned on the platform no later than May 31, 2013. We will close the actual marketplace sooner, on May 6, 2013, to ensure that all orders have sufficient time to complete and be delivered to your customers before the end of the month,” it said.


In December 2012, Multiply stopped its social networking service to focus on e-commerce, targeting the 350 million consumers in Indonesia and the Philippines.

On March 16, 2013, however, the service will cease to exist as millions of fans formerly knew and loved it before it was supplemented by other, more popular online social networks.



On May 31, 2013, Multiply had ceased its operations and shut down entirely.

On June 12, 2013, they had put in place Rp 8.9 billion for wages owed to former Multiply staff.

The Labour Department said earlier that around 400 former Multiply staff had applied for compensation through the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, a safety net for employees affected by business closures.

The company was put into bankruptcy protection in June after the closure of their operations and failing to repay the total $20 billion in loans from the Philippine, Indonesian, Japanese, Malay, Singaporean and South Korean lenders. The outgoing receiver appointed by Philippine court to oversee the rehabilitation process, Stefani Sano, said it could "shorten the receivership time if it results in Multiply becoming capable of paying its payables in less time than originally estimated." Multiply Philippines, Inc., the local unit, had previously estimated it would take five to ten years to recover and rehabilitate the website.

Multiply Investor Secretary Rong Rongbin pledged shares of Star Platinum Corporation, which holds 99% of its shares, to borrow HK$300 million from Xiesheng Xiefeng to save the Multiply website but did not repay on time; therefore, Xiesheng Xiefeng in July 2013, it acquired the full equity of Star Platinum. It was also reported that about HK$35 million in unpaid wages of 640 former employees and HK$18 million of Insolvency Fund were also paid after the company has acquired its majority stake.

The High Court on June 17, 2013 its liquidation proceedings and removed accounting firm Deloitte from its role as the firm’s provisional liquidator.

Derek Lai, vice-chair of Deloitte China, said on June 18, 2013 that since Star Platinum had already resolved the major debts Multiply incurred, it was unlikely the internet company would go into liquidation despite still owing smaller debts to other creditors including HSBC.

“Star Platinum needs to negotiate with the remaining creditors,” he said. “I hope they will support its restructuring with Multiply.”

He added that Multiply now had a cash flow of HK$10 million to be paid to other creditors as well as assets worth over HK$40 million.

In its latest financial report last month, Co-Prosperity said the deal with Multiply could help the group diversify its business. Apart from the online industry, the group focuses on fabric and clothing trading, money lending and securities investments.

“The directors believe that the potential intrinsic value of Multiply can be realized if the plan to rescue Multiply is successful,” the report said.

The group said it could make use of Multiply’s remaining assets and turn the website into a archive photo and video site.

“The group has been granted access and usage of certain assets of Multiply which shall enable Multiply to continue to operate and act as a archive photo and video site taking advantage of its 100,000 square-meter facility and social networking portion that delivering 217 million accounts, 210 million photos and 237,000 videos from the old Multiply from it's launch in March 2004 to March 15, 2013,” it said.

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 closed website.

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.

That the site will be reopened after United States President Barack Obama stepping down in the office on January 20, 2017 and keeping Facebook as the sole social networking site. 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, President Aquino approved the planned reopening of Multiply. The reopening will be undergo public bidding with an estimated floor price of 100 billion pesos. The proceeds of the bidding will be for the increase of Facebook's capital to upgrade and modernize their social networking capabilities. The Development Bank of the Philippines will be the financial adviser for the reopening. 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.

On April 25, 2016, the article in Wikipedia was being vandalized, it was edit is made by a sockpuppet of LPKids2006.




Vandalism of a Wikipedia article (Multiply (website). The bottom image shows vandalism done. The top image compares the edit shown below.

The reopening process of Multiply was commenced in October 2016. As of July 1, 2017, five groups have already showed 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.

https://politics.com.ph/navy-wants-to-take-a-piece-of-bankrupt-hanjins-facility-in-subic/

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