San Miguel out to buy Ashmore unit
01/06/2009 | 12:38 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is looking to complete its purchase of a majority stake in Petron Corp. by taking control of a unit of UK-based investment house Ashmore Group.
San Miguel told the exchange Monday that it had inked an "option agreement" last month with Ashmore unit SEA Refinery Holdings BV which gave the former the option to buy up to 100% of SEA Refinery Corp., which currently holds the majority of Petron shares.
Ashmore now owns some 91% of Petron after it purchased the government’s 40% stake last month for P25.6 billion. SEA Refinery holds 50.1% of Ashmore’s total interest.
The UK firm, however, has agreed to hand over control of Petron to San Miguel. The option to purchase SEA Refinery, San Miguel on Monday said, is valid for two years from December 24, 2008.
"SMC and SEA Holdings have agreed that San Miguel shall have representation in the board and management of Petron Corp.," it said.
An analyst said San Miguel may be avoiding the tender offer rule by purchasing the Petron shareholder instead of directly buying the oil refiner itself.
"Maybe they are trying to evade a tender offer rule by buying the company that owns Petron," he said.
The mandatory tender offer rule mandates a buyer of 35% or more of a public firm to bid for the rest of the company’s shares.
"It would cost less money on their (San Miguel’s) part," the analyst said.
San Miguel and Ashmore officials were not immediately available for comment.
San Miguel last month said it was in the final stages of talks to buy up to 50.1% of Petron, another stride towards its goal of focusing on new businesses. — K. Liu, BusinessWorld
San Miguel told the exchange Monday that it had inked an "option agreement" last month with Ashmore unit SEA Refinery Holdings BV which gave the former the option to buy up to 100% of SEA Refinery Corp., which currently holds the majority of Petron shares.
Ashmore now owns some 91% of Petron after it purchased the government’s 40% stake last month for P25.6 billion. SEA Refinery holds 50.1% of Ashmore’s total interest.
The UK firm, however, has agreed to hand over control of Petron to San Miguel. The option to purchase SEA Refinery, San Miguel on Monday said, is valid for two years from December 24, 2008.
"SMC and SEA Holdings have agreed that San Miguel shall have representation in the board and management of Petron Corp.," it said.
An analyst said San Miguel may be avoiding the tender offer rule by purchasing the Petron shareholder instead of directly buying the oil refiner itself.
"Maybe they are trying to evade a tender offer rule by buying the company that owns Petron," he said.
The mandatory tender offer rule mandates a buyer of 35% or more of a public firm to bid for the rest of the company’s shares.
"It would cost less money on their (San Miguel’s) part," the analyst said.
San Miguel and Ashmore officials were not immediately available for comment.
San Miguel last month said it was in the final stages of talks to buy up to 50.1% of Petron, another stride towards its goal of focusing on new businesses. — K. Liu, BusinessWorld
