SMC eyes P30B from listing of San Miguel Brewery
abs-cbnnews.com | 03/03/2008 1:15 AM
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By ZINNIA B. DELA PEÑA
Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is pursuing the listing of its flagship domestic beer unit and packaging concern on the stock exchange this year to raise as much as P30 billion in additional capital.
In an ambush interview, SMC president Ramon Ang said the group’s plan is to list all operating units this year to give investors an array of choices where to put their money.
Ang said the planned float of San Miguel Brewery will likely take place in the second quarter of the year and is expected to raise a maximum of P25 billion which would be used to fund working capital requirements and the group’s foray into new markets.
No timetable has yet been set for the initial public offering (IPO) of the group’s packaging unit although this would also happen this year and is expected to generate around $125 million in fresh equity, according to Ang.
San Miguel Brewery is planning to sell 1.5 billion common shares (comprising 1.39 billion existing shares and 154.88 million new shares) at a price ranging from P9.50 to P16.30 apiece. At least 70 percent of the offer shares will be sold overseas with the balance to be issued locally.
Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and ATR Kim-Eng Capital Partners were tapped as lead underwriters for the offering.
Aside from parent firm San Miguel, three of its subsidiaries are listed on the bourse. These are San Miguel Purefoods (the group’s food manufacturing arm), Ginebra San Miguel (the hard liquor unit of the group), and San Miguel Properties Inc. (the group’s real estate development arm).
Ang said the group is consolidating all its food businesses under Purefoods to ensure transparency in operations.
He said the group has yet to check whether the listing of all its units would violate the chain-listing rule of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
Under the chain listing rule, a subsidiary that accounts for more than 51 percent of its mother company’s income cannot be allowed to list at the stock exchange.
Future plans may include the delisting of SMC shares on the exchange, Ang said.
Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings, which holds a 20- percent interest in SMC, is expected to take up a substantial portion of San Miguel Brewery which dominates the local market for beer with an estimated share of 93 percent.
Founded as a brewery in 1890, SMC is restructuring its core operations and diversifying into power and mining as it seeks to reduce reliance on a maturing local market for beer, dairy, processed food, grains and poultry.
SMC is hoping to take advantage of government plans to sell dozens of state-run power plants to boost growth.
The conglomerate has programmed about $750 million, equivalent to a tenth of its total assets, for its new businesses.
