Lucio Co completes buyout of LPG firm

MANILA, Philippines - Cosco Capital Inc., the investment vehicle of retail magnate Lucio and Susan Co, has completed the acquisition of one of the country’s top liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) suppliers, marking its entry into the LPG business.

The acquisition of 100 percent ownership of Liquigaz was executed through Canaria Holdings Corp., 90-percent owned by Cosco Capital and 10-percent owned by PR Gaz Inc., the company told the local bourse.

Liquigaz is the second largest LPG supplier in the country, accounting for 30 percent of total market volume. It is also the biggest seller of LPG in Luzon, the site of its storage facilities.

More than 60 percent of the country’s total LPG imports are unloaded, stored and sold from Liquigaz’s storage tanks in Mariveles, Bataan with a capacity of 12,500 metric tons, making it the largest in the Philippines, Cosco Capital said.

The acquisition, whose value was not disclosed, was first announced in July.

Liquigaz is mainly into the wholesaling portion of the market, with 85 percent of its traded volume going to refillers and distributors. The remaining 15 percent is sold to commercial end-users such as restaurants, hotels, fast food outlets, hospitals, supermarkets and autogas stations.

“Cosco Capital envisions its entry into the downstream LPG retail business through mergers and acquisitions of existing LPG refillers and retailers or via the establishment of its own LPG refilling and retailing network,” the company said.

Cosco Capital said it envisions the direct LPG retailing to the wider household end-user market as it leverages on the market reach of the Puregold hypermarkets, supermarkets and extra stores.

Liquigaz, which was set up in 1995, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Netherlands’ SHV Gas, one of the largest dedicated global LPG distributors operating in almost 30 countries.