San Miguel to get packaging unit listed
Posted on May 13th, 2009
One of the country’s leading company, the San Miguel Corp. is planning to list its packaging arm in order to raise more funds, as the beer-based group is getting ready to branch out into heavy industry, according to Dow Jones Newswires. San Miguel president Ramon Ang told Dow Jones that the initial public offering for between 10-14 percent of the unit should be able to raise about $100 million for the company.
Ang also disclosed that included in their plan is to complete the previously announced sale of its international beer brand to its listed subsidiary San Miguel Brewery, Inc. The brand’s value, Ang said, is between $600-$700 million. San Miguel controls the brewery with Japan’s Kirin as minority partner.
In their disclosure statement to the Philippine Stock Exchanges (PSE), San Miguel Corp. told the PSE that it is now evaluating the “appropriate time†to exercise an option agreement it signed last year to acquire a controlling stake in the country’s top refiner Petron Corp. San Miguel also obtained a significant stake in the country’s top power distributor, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
San Miguel Corp. also reported that its real estate arm, the San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMPI) has seen its net profit as of 2008 rise 220 percent to P1.2 billion ($25.14 million) in spite of an “overall softening of the real estate market†last year. SMPI said, while a “substantial increase in sale†of residential products was realized last year, the bulk of the net income came from the disposal of an industrial property and a minority stake in another real estate firm.
