Alaska moves to delist shares

MANILA, Philippines – Alaska Milk Corp., now controlled by Dutch firm Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. formally submitted yesterday its petition for voluntary delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In its letter, Alaska said the proposed voluntary delisting had been approved by the company’s board last Aug. 15, and that the notice of the planned move had been made to all stockholders of the company.

Pursuant to PSE rules on voluntary delisting, Friesland shall make a tender offer for all of the issued and outstanding Alaska shares at P24 apiece.

The tender offer period shall run from Sept. 5 to Oct. 2, unless extended by Friesland with requisite regulatory approval.

The shares that will be tendered and accepted will be purchased by Friesland by way of a block sale through the PSE and crossed within five trading days from the end of the offer period,

As of yesterday, Friesland holds 870.8 million shares in Alaska, accounting for 98.31 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital of the local milk manufacturing firm.

Friesland has been in the dairy business for more than 140 years, producing dairy-based beverages, infant and toddler nutrition, cheese, butter, cream and desserts from its more than 14,300 member dairy farms in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium.

Its main brands include Friso, Dutch Lady, Frisian Flag, Foremost, Peak, Milner, Campina, Landliebe and Optimel.

In terms of dairy revenues, Friesland ranked fifth worldwide with annual revenue of approximately 9.6 billion euros in 2011.

In Asia, Friesland also has a presence in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, India, Hong Kong, and Singapore. It also produces and sells dairy products in the Middle East and Africa.

Alaska posted first semester net earnings of P730.86 million, up 59 percent from the same period in 2011, on the back of a strong rebound in consumer demand for milk products alongside higher selling prices. Net sales grew 40 percent to P6.96 billion due to increased sales volume for its liquid canned milk products (evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk).

Sales also got a boost from the newly-launched Alpine Sterilized Milk.