He is the owner of Solar Philippines and son of Senator Loren Legarda.
In a disclosure to the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), LL Holdings — a firm owned by businessman Leandro Legarda Leviste — said that it had acquired 76.5 million shares of media giant ABS-CBN Corporation.
Leviste owns 75,881,000 shares of ABS-CBN Corporation (ABS), while LLH’s parent holding company Countryside bought 619,000 shares of ABS-CBN Holdings (ABSP).
The ABSP shares are “in the process of being converted into shares of ABS,” which will eventually result to LLH owning “approximately 8.50% of ABS’s issued and outstanding common shares.”
The Leviste-owned company will also have “the power to vote or direct the vote and to dispose or to direct the disposition of the aforementioned shares of ABS.”
The acquisition of the shares results in LLH becoming the second-largest owner of ABS-CBN Corporation, next to the Lopez family that continues to be the majority owner.
According to a statement released through the Facebook page of his other company, Solar Philippines, Leandro Leviste said that his move is for the sake of the Kapamilya network’s workers.
“ABS-CBN is a great company that has helped countless people over the years. I hope there may now be a way for us to be of help, for the benefit of ABS-CBN’s shareholders and employees, and the media industry of the Philippines,” he said.
On a sentimental note, he also shared his ties with ABS-CBN through his mother, Senator Loren Legarda.
The current Senate President Pro Tempore once served as a newswoman on ABS-CBN, having co-anchored the network’s flagship English newscast ‘The World Tonight’ until 1998.
Legarda was also part of the network’s news channel ANC via the cultural documentary ‘Dayaw,’ which was made in association with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
During the ABS-CBN franchise renewal debacle in 2020, Loren Legarda was an ex-officio member of the legislative franchises committee of the House of Representatives.
However, she did not make her vote during the final hearing, citing “conflict of interest” as a major factor. Although, she later revealed in an interview that she would have voted in favor of the franchise renewal.
ABS-CBN was once the Philippines’ leading and largest commercial TV and radio network prior to its shutdown in May 2020.
Due to that shutdown, coupled with the denial of its broadcast franchise by the Congress, ABS-CBN has largely pivoted into becoming a major content provider and collaborator for local TV networks, international platforms, and digital streaming.
Notably, they currently have their primetime dramas like ‘FPJ’s Batang Quiapo’ air on TV5, noontime show ‘It’s Showtime’ on GMA, and flagship newscast ‘TV Patrol’ on A2Z and ALLTV, on top of their cable-only Kapamilya Channel.
ABS-CBN teleseryes have also entered the streaming game, such as ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ on Netflix, ‘Linlang’ on Prime Video, ‘What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?’ on Viu, and their other programs on their own platform iWantTFC.