San Miguel gets 4 bids for Pure Foods stake

MANILA, Philippines - Four bidders, including Cebu-based conglomerate Aboitiz Group, will compete for San Miguel Corp.’s stake in unit San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc., according to a top official of Southeast Asia’s biggest food and beverage company.

In a mobile text message, San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang confirmed that the Aboitiz Group has joined the bidding for a significant stake in Pure Foods which, according to company officials, has an enterprise value of around $2 billion.

Pure Foods, which holds the San Miguel Group’s processed meats, poultry, livestock, feeds and dairy operations, has also drawn the interest of private equity firm Carlyle Group, the Gokongwei family’s Universal Robina Corp. and the Campos business group, which owns food conglomerate NutriAsia Group and leading pharmaceutical firm Unilab Industries Inc.

The Aboitiz clan is into food production through unit Pilmico Foods Corp., one of the country’s largest manufacturers of flour and is ranked among the top three domestic flour producers in terms of sales.

Ang said the group expects to make a decision regarding the sale of its Pure Foods stake this week.

San Miguel has been aggressively shifting focus from its core food and drink operations to venture into high-growth industries such as power, mining, telecommunications and infrastructure.

Pure Foods is a good catch, accounting for 40 percent of the local poultry market and 63 percent of total hotdog sales.

San Miguel … From B-1

It is also into the canned and processed meats business in partnership with American meat company Hormel.

Purefoods is bullish on its prospects this year with net earnings seen to grow 10-15 percent from P2.7 billion in 2009. In the first quarter this year, the company posted a net income of P872 million or six times the amount reported in the same period in 2009 on revenues of P18.2 billion.