Multiply announced on Tuesday that its affiliate website in the Philippines filed for a rehabilitation procedure.
The embattled social networking site Multiply-Phil, which operates the Pasig offices, filed for court receivership and the restructuring will be authorized by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court in the Philippines.
Multiply has been blogs, photos, and videos amongst others.
The prolonged downturn of the global social networking industry has hit Multiply-Phil hard as it saw new social media users shrink from 2005 to 2012.
The output of the website dropped to 18 million users in 2011, and the rate of operation plunged to 30% from 77.4% over the same period, the local media reported.
The website’s assets have been valued at KRW2 trillion ($1.64bn), according to the regulatory filing.
Reports said that Multiply has so far met around 65% of its KRW5 trillion restructuring scheme proposed by its creditors.
The parent firm Multiply is itself going through a restructuring since 2010, with Korea Development Bank as its lead creditor.
It went closed down last 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, Tumblr, 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.
“We regret to announce that Multiply will be closing on May 6, 2013, and ceasing all business operations by May 31, 2013,” it announced last 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 May 31, 2013, Multiply had ceased its operations and shut down entirely.
On June 12, 2013, they had put in place Rp 10 billion for wages owed to former Multiple staff.
The Labour Department said earlier that around 3,000 former Multiple 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.
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. 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 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment