San Miguel may bid for Del Monte Pacific

San Miguel may bid for Del Monte Pacific

San Miguel Corp., the largest Philippine food and beverage company, may bid for 40 percent of Del Monte Pacific Ltd., a stake with a market value of about S$290 million (US$172 million).

San Miguel is auditing the assets of Singapore-listed Del Monte Pacific, the world's largest pineapple canner.

"The due diligence is continuing," San Miguel Chief Financial Officer Ferdinand Constantino told Bloomberg.

"No decision has been made on whether to submit a definite bid."

Reuters earlier reported Manila-based San Miguel is among the possible bidders for the 40 percent stake held by Italy's Cirio Finanziaria SpA.

Other potential buyers include Sumitomo Corp. of Japan and U.S. companies H.J. Heinz Co. and Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., the report said.

"Del Monte's purchase, if it pushes through, will give more heft to San Miguel's regional expansion program," said Alfred Dy, head of research at CLSA Philippines Inc.

San Miguel, partly owned by Japan's Kirin Brewery Co., bought half of Australia's No. 1 juice maker Berri Ltd. in August as part of a plan to build up its beverage business in Asia.

San Miguel is expanding abroad to trim its dependence in the Philippines, where it owns 90 percent of beer sold and 86 percent of the soft-drinks market.

Cirio Finanziaria is under liquidation after defaulting on 1.3 billion euros in November 2002.

Earlier this year, San Miguel started building plants in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam to make bottled water, juice and soft drinks. It acquired a 20-hectare property in Malaysia in June to build a similar facility.

San Miguel's Class A shares, reserved for Filipinos, rose 0.9 percent to 58 pesos at the noon close of trading in Manila. Its Class B shares, which have no ownership restrictions, rose 0.7 percent to 71 pesos.

Shares of Del Monte Pacific rose 2.2 percent to Singapore $0.675 in Singapore. -- Bloomberg