Danding denies selling SMC stake

San Miguel Corp. chairman and chief executive officer Eduardo M. "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. denied yesterday that he is selling his 20 percent stake in the company to Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

"I categorically deny that I have been in talks with Pangilinan to sell my 20-percent stake in San Miguel. The story has no basis in fact," Cojuangco said in a statement.

Reports claim that Pangilinan will be buying Cojuangco’s stake in the food and beverage giant for P57.50 billion or roughly $1.01 billion, almost comparable to the $1.2 billion investment of First Pacific Co. Ltd. in PLDT.

First Pacific is the holding firm of the Salim family in Indonesia, which also has Pangilinan as its managing director.

Should the deal push through, it will be the biggest buy-in in San Miguel after Kirin Brewery Ltd’s P27.9-billion ($547 million) investment.

Kirin bought its 15 percent stake in the company back in December 2001 at P63 per share for the "B" shares. San Miguel shares are currently trading at P70.50 ffor the "B" shares, or those available for foreigners, and P57.50 for "A."

Pangilinan’s reported bid to wrest control in San Miguel, currently one of Southeast Asia’s biggest food and beverage conglomerate, is his second attempt to buy Cojuangco’s stake.

The first one was back in 1997 when Pangilinan attempted to buy not only Cojuangco’s 20 percent stake but also the 24 percent stake in the Coconut Industry Development Fund. The deal was aborted in the early stages.

Cojuangco’s denial only means that he is bent on further expanding San Miguel as a major food and beverage company in the Asia Pacific region under his wings. San Miguel on Friday reported that its consolidated net income rose 28 percent in the first eight months of the year on higher beer and softdrinks sales.

In a statement, the company reported profits of P4.76 billion for January to August, as against P3.72 billion in 2003.

The company is likewise expanding both in the domestic and the regional markets.

It recently announced that it has earmarked P15 billion for a three-year local expansion binge, a manifestation of its bullishness in the domestic market. Most of the investments will be on food expansion.

San Miguel is also keen on penetrating regional markets with its series of groundbreaking efforts in South China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Other countries such as Australia, Taiwan and Malaysia are also included in its potential target markets.