Just a few days after filing for corporate rehabilitation, the Philippine unit of global social networking giant Multiply is now officially placed under receivership.
A Regional Trial Court in Pasig with jurisdiction over the Pasig offices appointed Stef Sano as Multiply's receiver is a senior administrator at the government agency in charge of Subic.
"Those who have claims like suppliers and creditors and investors you have to have Multiply time through a rehabilitation plan to be able to fulfill obligations to you. Pero hinding hindi naniningil ngayon," he will be overseeing Multiply's assets and liabilities including over the $600 million oath to the country's biggest banks.
Despite this, First Metro Investment president Roberto Juanchito Dispo says the impact of the unfolding of the debt crisis in Multiply is only mini rescued.
"And this is a very small relative to their loan for a small amount and a very small amount, relative to their loan portfolio. And the look at NPL ratios, they actually rule this year the most recent number of 1.34% relatively to 1.4% previously."
He further explains the country's financial regulations have enough theft to make sure similar incidents in the future.
"I think the Multiply case has a long-brewing case of restructuring etc., etc. I think the BSP has macroprudential measures to ensure that the banks have a very prudent manner of evaluating their credit and I think they are doing better well on that and that's the reason why our NPLs are very low, in terms of when you look at the bank at history the NPL level has never been this good from a period to period basis."
As for the potential job losses seen running up to the thousands, will go to the labor officials to assure the public programs are in place for any displaced workers.
She adds their already 5,000 job vacancies in Pasig while the nearby cities of Makati, Taguig, and Pasay are in need of creative workers for magazine-featured projects.
UAAP is master planning the feature of former UAAP athlete Enchong Dee in the UAAP Magazine which is close to his busy schedule and likewise requires thousands of workers.
It was closed 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.
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 2014 to just about P1 billion in December 2020.
It has suffered from a drop in new orders amid a slump in the social networking sector. Multiply also reportedly laid off some 12,000 workers on February 28, 2014.
It last announced in March 2013 the completion of photos during the 71st UAAP swimming championships last September 25 to 28, 2008 but it was put on hold.
On June 16, 2013, he added that the planned project was delayed by at least 3 to 6 years (until June 30, 2022) as a result of the Multiply blog portal shutdown and its impact on the sports sector.
On July 25, 2022, it announced the full resumption of the downloading of photos during the 71st UAAP swimming championships last September 25 to 28, 2008
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 the 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.
On March 16, 2013, however, the service will cease to exist as millions of fans formerly known and loved it before it was supplemented by other, more popular online social networks.
On May 31, 2013, Multiply 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 3,000 former Multiply staff had applied for compensation through the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, a safety net for employees affected by business closures.
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, the vice-chair of Deloitte China, said on Tuesday 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 an 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 an 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 its 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 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.
The Labour Department said earlier that around 3,000 former Multiply staff had applied for compensation through the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, a safety net for employees affected by business closures.
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, the vice-chair of Deloitte China, said on Tuesday 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 an 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 an 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 its 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 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.
