Manny Pacquiao-GMA Offer: Boxer's Bid To Invest In Philippine Broadcaster Falls Through

Former world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao made a bid to buy into the Philippines' second-biggest media company but was turned down. Pacquiao made the offer to buy into GMA Network Inc., together with Chavit Singson, a former governor of the northern province of Ilocos Sur, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, citing GMA Chairman Felipe Gozon.

"It didn't push through," the Inquirer reported Gozon as saying, without elaborating.

GMA has a market value of about 24 billion pesos ($508 million). It is down about a third from 2013, the height of speculation that it would be bought by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. When PLDT dropped its bid in 2014, San Miguel Corp. President Ramon Ang and GMA said they were in talks, which collapsed earlier this year.

Pacquiao, who is on his second term as a Philippine congressman, earned $160 million this year from his losing bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and endorsements, according to Forbes. There is speculation about his wealth amid tales of lavish spending on himself and the "Team Pacquiao" that follows him around the globe. Tax authorities in the Philippine and the U.S. have both billed him for unpaid taxes. Singson is close to Pacquiao, usually accompanying him on his bouts around the world.