No Powerade sale to SMC, at least not yet

Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Chito Salud has finally spoken up on an issue that's been making the PBA rounds the past couple of weeks: the supposed sale of the Powerade franchise back to the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) group.

In a statement released to the media, Salud said William Schultz, president and CEO of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. which owns Powerade, stated through a letter addressed to the PBA Board of Governors that "its franchise has not been sold and that the ownership, operation and management of the Powerade team remain intact under CCBPI control."

Schultz went on to reassure Salud that CCBPI "will follow the proper process should it decide to consummate the sale of its franchise, namely by first notifying and requesting approval for a sale from the PBA Board of Governors."

At the same time, though, the CCBPI CEO admitted that they recently met with SMC "conformably to a right of first refusal to buy the basketball team granted to SMC at the time CCBPI was acquired from SMC in 2007…(W)hile SMC confirmed its interest in maintaining and securing the right of first refusal to buy Powerade, nothing has been finalized and no sale has been concluded."

Rumors began circulating earlier this month about Powerade's transfer back into the SMC fold, which would have given the food, beverage and energy conglomerate four PBA teams. The rumors were further fueled by a proposed trade involving Powerade and Petron Blaze which would have sent rookie sensation Marcio Lassiter to a loaded Petron roster in exchange for seldom-used Blaze Boosters Nonoy Baclao and Rey Guevarra.

While Schultz's letter confirms that CCBPI and SMC have indeed discussed a possible sale, it's interesting to note that no mention was made on when exactly this meeting took place. Supposedly, if a letter from Schultz to SMC president Ramon Ang is to be believed, the offer to sell Powerade back to SMC was first made in November, but the Tigers' unexpected Cinderella run to the Philippine Cup finals could have thrown a monkey wrench into everything.

During the run, Lassiter's stock valued soared as he emerged as the team's second-leading scorer and its best perimeter defender. Lassiter, Gary David and JV Casio were christened Powerade's Big Three, and even though the Tigers lost 4-1 in the finals to Talk 'N Text, they captured the imagination of PBA fans, and the three were seen as the cornerstones of the team's continued rise from the PBA cellar. Therefore, coming off such a sterling performance, it seemingly made little sense to kill the golden goose and break up the Big Three right away.

Shortly after his appointment, Salud had said one of his immediate goals as commissioner was to crack down on perceived one-sided trades that seemed to benefit loaded teams.

For now, Powerade fans can breathe a temporary sigh of relief after Salud said he is deferring action on the trade proposal until after a special board meeting on February 20. The said meeting, Salud explained, will "give our Board of Governors the opportunity to ask further clarificatory questions regarding the CCBPI response."

Also to be discussed during the meeting, according to Salud, is the possible addition of rules regarding franchise sale. "While this clarification may help put to rest certain speculations surrounding this issue," Salud explained, "it also lays bare a need for additional rules to govern the matter of franchise sale that would in the future prevent the kind of speculation and concerns that have been expressed the past weeks. I will bring this up to the Board for discussion to come up with a collective decision on the matter."

In response to another issue surrounding the reported sale, Salud said CCBPI has formally notified the Commissioner's Office that Ronald Asuncion has been appointed alternate governor and will represent CCBPI in the February 20 meeting, while JB Baylon will retain his position as designated governor. Baylon had been incommunicado to the media the past few days, raising speculation that he was on his way out as governor.

E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com. Twitter: @VenturaSid.