Sabin to take helm at Aboitiz Group

MANILA, Philippines — The Aboitiz Group, the Cebu-based conglomerate that has built a diverse empire of businesses, yesterday witnessed the passing of an era with the retirement of Erramon “Montxu” Aboitiz.

Aboitiz, the president and CEO of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), will retire effective Jan. 1, 2020 and will be succeeded by his younger brother Sabin.

Erramon Aboitiz, a member of the fourth generation of the Aboitiz clan, is credited for the group’s successful diversification into infrastructure.

He is also credited for leading the group’s transformation from just a power distributor to a major generation company.

Through Aboitiz Power, the group has at least 2,500 megawatts in attributable capacity.

Under Erramon’s leadership, the group also started looking outside Philippine borders and is now exploring geothermal  opportunities in Indonesia.

But insiders said  while Erramon’s retirement marks the end of an era, it would also usher in a new period in the conglomerate with the appointment of Sabin.

“We are happy to announce that Aboitiz & Co. (ACO) and AEV boards approved today the appointment of Sabin Aboitiz to replace Erramon Aboitiz, upon his retirement as Group president and CEO effective January 1, 2020.

He will take on the roles of president & CEO of both ACO and AEV at that time,” ACO chairman Mikel Aboitiz and AEV chairman Endika Aboitiz said in a joint letter to employees yesterday.

Sabin has been with the company for the past 32 years holding various management positions in transport, food and infrastructure units. He also holds multiple board memberships in the different business units across the group.

He is currently president & chief executive officer of Pilmico, GoldCoin and Aboitiz InfraCapital and executive vice president and  chief operating officer of AEV.

The group believes this is another seamless changing of the guard.

“A significant factor in our group’s success over the past 100 years has been one of seamless succession and transition to the next generation of leaders, ensuring the continuity as well as the evolution of our culture, our policies and how we do business. We are confident that both Montxu and Sabin will provide a smooth and effective transfer of leadership over the next 12 months,” the letter said.

Erramon has been chief executive of AEV since 2009. He was supposed to retire in 2016 but the board decided in 2014 that he was irreplaceable at the time.

The listed Cebu-based company spans interests in infrastructure, power, banking, food and land development

The conglomerate, now more than 100 years old, was founded by Paulino Aboitiz, a Spaniard with Basque descent who migrated to the Philippines in the late 1800s.

It began as an abaca-trading and general-merchandise business. Today the family-run business has 24 members, mostly from the fourth and fifth generations, involved in the business.