Udenna Corporation is a

holdings company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

made by the Udenna Group of Companies which is based in

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and founded by businessman

Dennis Uy Dennis Ang Uy (; born September 26, 1973) is a Filipino businessman and diplomat. Uy is the founder of Udenna Corporation, which has stakes in various businesses including Phoenix Petroleum. Early life and education Dennis Ang Uy was born a ...

. Primarily involved in the

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

and

shipping industry Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people ( passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used thro ...

in its initial years, the company later diversified and became involved in other sectors such as real estate and telecommunications.

History

The Udenna Corporation was incorporated on March 19, 2002. It was founded by Davao City businessman Dennis Uy who decided to establish the company after quitting his family businesses in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. "Udenna" was derived from Uy's full name, Dennis Ang Uy. Phoenix Petroleum was organized as the first unit of Udenna. It was first involved in managing oil terminals as the Davao Oil Terminal and Services Corporation in the early 2000s but was later renamed Phoenix Petroleum in 2005 and went on retailing petroleum products. Phoenix Petroleum went public in 2007. To supplement Udenna's petroleum business, Chelsea Shipping Corporation was established in 2006, marking the corporation's entry into the shipping and logistics industry. Within the first year of the administration of President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

in 2016–2017, Udenna Corporation had various acquisitions. Udenna secured permission from the

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR, ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established through the ''Presidential Decree 1869''. PAGCOR is the Philippines' largest contributor of revenue to the government after the ...

to develop a casino resort near the

Mactan–Cebu International Airport Mactan–Cebu International Airport ( ceb, Tugpahanang Pangkalibutan sa Mactan–Sugbo; fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Mactan–Cebu; ) is an international airport serving Metro Cebu and serves as the main gateway to the Central Visayas region ...

. It also entered the

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...

(LPG) industry and acquired

Enderun Colleges Enderun Colleges is a private non-sectarian undergraduate college situated at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was established in 2005, then in its former campus in Wynsum Corporate Plaza in Ortigas Center. I ...

. In November 2017, Udenna took over the development of the former Global Gateway Logistics City at the

Clark Freeport Zone The Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone (CFEZ), often shortened to Clark, refers to an area in Central Luzon, Philippines. The CFEZ in Pampanga covers portions of the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat and portions of the town of Porac whil ...

in Pampanga, later relaunched as

Clark Global City Clark Global City (formerly the Global Gateway Logistics City) is a planned mixed-use central business district development at the Clark Freeport Zone in Mabalacat and Angeles City, Philippines. Udenna Corporation is responsible for the developm ...

. Mislatel (now known as

Dito Telecommunity Dito Telecommunity Corporation (stylized as DITO), formerly known as Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. or Mislatel is a telecommunications company in the Philippines which is also engaged in the business of multimedia and information te ...

), a consortium by Udenna and

China Telecom China Telecom Corp., Ltd. is a Chinese telecommunications company. It is one of the red chip listed companies of state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation. Its H shares have been traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 15 Novembe ...

, won the government-sanctioned bidding that would allow the consortium to become the third primary

telecommunications provider A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunica ...

in the Philippines, challenging the duopoly of

PLDT PLDT, Inc., formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company ( fil, Kompanya ng Teleponong Pangmalayuan ng Pilipinas), is a Philippine telecommunications, internet and digital service holdings company. It is one of the country's ...

and

Globe Telecom Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates the largest mobile network in the Philippines and one of the largest fixed-line and broadband networks ...

. Also, in late 2018, Udenna Corporation began acquiring

Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. ( fil, Pamilihang Sapi ng Pilipinas; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Includin ...

-listed ISM Communications Corporation with the intention of

backdoor listing A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...

Udenna on the stock exchange. Upon the completion of the process, Udenna Corporation will become a wholly owned subsidiary of ISM, but Dennis Uy and his wife will effectively own ISM's shares and ISM will be renamed Udenna Holdings Corporation. However, the planned backdoor listing was aborted and in March 2020, ISM changed its corporate name to Dito CME Holdings Corporation. In November 2020, Dito CME Holdings Corporation announced its share swap deal with Udenna to indirectly own its stake in Dito Telecommunity. As part of a deal, Dito CME will hold a 100% stake in Udenna's subsidiary, Udenna CME Holdings Corporation, which co-owns one of Dito's parent companies, Dito Holdings Corporation (along with Chelsea Logistics). The deal made Udenna Corporation become as a parent company of Dito CME. Dennis Uy's Udenna Corporation bought 100 million common shares of Atok-Big Wedge Co. Inc. at the negotiated price of P2.00 per share or a total of P200,000,000. Dennis Uy is also a director and vice chairman of Atok-Big Wedge. He has an existing 1,000 direct shares in the company. Atok-Big Wedge Co, Inc. a listed corporation in PSE, has 20% ownership of United Kingdom-based Forum Energy Ltd. which has the right of oil exploration in SC72 in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. Forum Energy Ltd. has ongoing talks with China for joint oil exploration after President Duterte, a close friend of Dennis Uy, lift the moratorium on oil exploration.

Subsidiaries

;Oil, gas, and retail * Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. - is one of the principal subsidiaries of Udenna. **Phoenix LPG Philippines Inc. **PNX Petroleum Singapore Pte Ltd. **Phoenix Gas Vietnam LLC **Phoenix Asphalt Philippines, Inc. *Philippine FamilyMart CVS, Inc. (PFM) - Philippine franchise of the Japan-based convenience store chain. Acquired FamilyMart Philippines from the co-ownership of

Ayala Corporation Ayala Corporation (Spanish: ''Corporación Ayala'', formerly ''Ayala y Compañía'' (Ayala & Company)) is the publicly listed holding company for the diversified interests of the Ayala Group. Founded in the Philippines by Domingo Róxas and A ...

, Rustan's Group , and Itochu in 2018. ;Logistics *Chelsea Logistics & Infrastructure Holdings Corp., a holdings company, deals with Udenna's business in the shipping and logistics industry. ;Real estate Udenna Corporation also manages the

through its subsidiary. *Clark City Global Corporation - which holds the majority of Global Gateway Development Corporation, the leaseholder of the development in the

. ;Education *

;Telecommunications *

Dito CME Holdings Corporation Dito CME Holdings Corporation (formerly known as ISM Communications Corporation) is a Filipino conglomerate holding firm. Formed in 1925, the company primarily engages in telecommunications and information technology infrastructure. History The ...

- a publicly-listed company, formerly known as ISM Communications Corporation. * Dito Holdings Corporation - a joint-venture subsidiary of Udenna owned a 60% stake in

(co-owned by Dito CME through Udenna CME and Chelsea Logistics). Chinese state-owned

China Telecommunications Corporation China Telecommunications Corporation (Chinese: 中国电信集团有限公司), known as its trading name China Telecom, is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed-line service and the third largest mobile tel ...

owned the rest of the stake. (40%) ;Hospitality * PH Resort Group - PH Resorts Group is the gaming and hospitality business holding entity. **Donatela Hotel - Luxury Resort located in Panglao, Bohol. Sits on 7.5 hectares of prime property. Acquired in November 2017, the resort features twelve private & luxurious villas. **Emerald Bay Resort and Casino - Located in Mactan, Cebu. **Emerald Bay Resort and Casino - was designed by world-renowned Steelman Partners. The five-star hotel and casino is targeted to open in 2020. **The Base - Currently in the design and development phase, The Base is scheduled to open in 2022. Located in a 4.4-hectare property in Clark Global City, Pampanga, The Base is set to be a premiere adventure-themed integrated resort. ;Retail and food * Eight-8-Ate Holdings, Inc. ** Wendy's Philippines - Philippine franchise of the American burger fast-food chain. Acquired in 2019 thru its subsidiary Eight-8-Ate Holdings. *Conti's - a bakeshop and restaurant chain. Udenna acquired a 70% stake in Conti's Holdings Corporation in 2018. *L3 Concrete

Controversies

The acquiring of the

Malampaya The Malampaya gas field or the Malampaya-Camago field is a deepwater gas-condensate reservoir, located in the Service Contract 38 license area, located offshore, 65 km northwest of the island of Palawan, Philippines. Background The field ...

stake to Udenna has been under scrutiny by some senators and concerned citizens.

References."

{{reflist 2002 establishments in the Philippines Conglomerate companies of the Philippines Holding companies of the Philippines Companies established in 2002 Companies based in Davao City

History

Subsidiaries

Controversies

See also

References."