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By Likha C. Cuevas-Miel, Reporter
SOUTHEAST Asia’s largest food and beverage
conglomerate said it may start working on the foundations of its
mining venture this year at it already received offers from several
entities.
On the sidelines of the Ginebra San Miguel Inc.
stockholders meeting, Ramon Ang, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president
told reporters that opportunities in mining are “very good” if
they get tenements with “good deposits.”
“At the moment San Miguel is in the process of
evaluating several offers on nickel, iron ore, chromite and coal. If
we complete those [components], we will able to produce stainless
steel and high carbon steel,” Ang said.
The SMC executive said the company is talking to
the proponents and may be able to work things out with them this
year. The corporate vehicle for the mining venture would be threshed
out later since “it is easier to do,” as SMC stockholders
already gave their blessing with regard to these non-core
businesses.
“If there is opportunity, it’s easy to build
those structures,” Ang said.
Last year, Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., the
conglomerate’s chairman, told shareholders that the company will
enter the capital-intensive power industry as well as other
big-ticket businesses like mining, utilities and infrastructure.
The company initially earmarked about 10 percent
or $750 million of its assets to finance its foray into the power
sector. SMC has also teamed up with foreign strategic partners for
the prospective projects to help defray costs.
But so far SMC has failed to win some of the
assets that the government sold. Despite this, Ang said the company
is still not out of the power game, an arena that is now attracting
an increasing number of companies. “If there is a cheap deal,
whatever that is, we will study it,” he said.
To raise the necessary funds to support its
diversification program, SMC started selling its domestic and
international assets to help clean its books of debts it acquired to
support these businesses.
It sold some shares in its packaging subsidiary
to Nihon Yamamura Glass (NYG), giving the Japanese company a 35
interest in San Miguel Packaging Specialists Inc. and San Miguel
Packaging International Ltd. NYG paid P4.399 billion for the
domestic and regional operations, and another $23.453 million for
the international packaging business.
After spinning off its domestic beer business
and listing in the local bourse, SMC is set to do the same with its
packaging unit, which will be selling its shares for the first time
to the public within the same quarter.
Ang also said the conglomerate will finish the
integration of its food business under San Miguel Purefoods Company.
Inc. this year in preparation for the follow on offer during the
first quarter next year. He said company has yet to determine the
amount to be raised.
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