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The San Miguel Corp. (SMC), the country with most diversified conglomerate, has been extended a P2 billion loan by the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank). The loan would be used by SMC to finance its expansion program.

SMC senior vice president for treasury Sergion Edeza and Landbank first vice president Jed Reyes signed the loan agreement last December 1. The proceeds of the loan would be used to partially finance the requirements of the food and beverage business of the company.

With a workforce of 15,344 employees, SMC is the country’s biggest employer at present. It also provides indirect employment to auxiliary service contractors, distributors, sari-sari stores, contract growers, haulers, other service providers, and third party suppliers nationwide.

It has a wide range of product portfolio, from beer, hard liquor, non-carbonated non-alcoholic beverages, processed and packaged food products, meats poultry, dairy and a number of packaging products. SMC is the largest publicly listed food, beverage, and packaging company, not only in the Philippines, but in Southeast Asia.

The company’s food operations included the production and marketing of fresh, ready-to-cook and processed chicken, pork and beef, milk, butter, cheese, margarine, ice cream, flour, pancake mix, snack foods, coffee, cooking oil as well as animal and aquatic’ feeds.

For its part, Landbank supports companies in the countryside that helps stimulate the economic activities in their areas as their operations are integrated into the economies of the regions. It granted SMC the loan because it believes the food and beverage business of SMC supports the agricultural sector through the purchase of sugar, molasses, cassava and corn.

Aside from food and beverages, SMC has also diversified into power, mining, and utilities by buying into electricity giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), oil giant Petron corp., among others.