Prime Media Holdings, Inc. (PMHI, commonly known as Prime Media) is a Philippine investment holding company based in Makati. Originally founded on February 6, 1963 as a development bank, the company has been changed to its current status since 2003. It is majority controlled by RYM Business Management Corporation, a business holding company associated with the Romualdez clan.
History
Early years
The company traced its origins on February 6, 1963 as the Private Development Corporation of the Philippines (PDCP), later renamed to PDCP Development Bank, Inc. (PDCP Bank) the same year.[1]Metro Pacific Corporation (later renamed Neo Oracle) acquired the company in 1992 and renamed as First e-Bank Corporation (1st e-Bank) in 2000, while the Bank of Commerce bought a stake in 2002.[2] However, in October of the same year, BDO Unibank acquired the operations of 1st e-Bank including its Smart Money Mastercard debit card issuer (which is a partnership with Smart Communications until 2017).[3]
On October 20, 2003, First e-Bank Corporation was renamed as Prime Media Holdings after selling its namesake business to BDO Unibank, leaving the company became dormant as it shifts to a holding investment.
Under new ownership
In 2013, RYM Business Management Corporation, owned by the family of politician Martin Romualdez, acquired the majority stake in Prime Media from Neo Oracle.[4]
In May 2021, Prime Media Holdings signed a share-for-share swap agreement with Philippine Collective Media Corporation (PCMC), also owned by the Romualdez, through a backdoor listing. Under the deal, PCMC shareholders will exchange their shares of common stock to take majority control of PRIM, which will acquire PCMC and will become the latter's subsidiary.[5][6][7] However, the memorandum was later revised following PCMC's shareholders created a holding firm Golden Peregrine Holdings (GPHI) which was already acquired PCMC, therefore GPHI became a direct subsidiary of PMHI with PCMC as its indirect subsidiary.[8]
On May 23, 2023, Prime Media announced a joint venture agreement with ABS-CBN Corporation. The new venture company will produce and supply various programs including news content to broadcasters and third-party entities, including PCMC.[9] Along with it are plans to operate a radio station on ABS-CBN's former frequency 630 kHz (previously known as DZMM), and managing the Filipino-language cable news channel TeleRadyo (which was originally intended to cease its broadcast on June 30, but was abruptly cancelled and reduced to closing out most of its old concurrent programs instead).[10][11] On June 26, 2023, 630 kHz conducted a test broadcast under the DWPM callsign.[12][13] The station and its TV counterpart had its soft launch on June 30 as Radyo 630 and TeleRadyo Serbisyo respectively and officially launched on July 17.[14][15]
