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Thursday, March 28, 2024

San Miguel planning to raise another P15b

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San Miguel Corp. said Wednesday it plans to raise another P15 billion in the first half, after selling P30 billion worth of preferred shares, to finance infrastructure and energy projects.

San Miguel deputy chief finance officer Joseph Pineda said the company’s operating infrastructure and energy units might issue preferred shares or senior notes to raise the required amount.

Pineda said the company was now in talks with several banks for the planned fund raising activity.

San Miguel on Wednesday listed P30 billion worth of preferred shares with the Philippine Stock Exchange, the proceeds of which would be used to reduce dollar-denominated debts. The offering was twice oversubscribed on strong demand from investors.

Pineda said the planned P15-billion fund raising would be not be issued by the parent company but by operating subsidiaries.

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San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said the conglomerate remained interested in various infrastructure projects the government might bid out, despite its decision not to participate in the failed bidding of P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project.

Ang said San Miguel decided not to participate in the bidding because the project was primarily focused on real estate development and the tollway component was only a small part of the whole project.

“I think if it is just a pure real estate play, then we will not be [participating]. We are only interested if it is a tollway project,” Ang said.

The deal entails a 37-year contract to build a 47-kilometer expressway between Taguig City and Los Baños, Laguna and a 45-km flood-control dike for P64.91 billion.  The project would reclaim around 700 hectares of land in Taguig and Muntinlupa cities, adjacent to the road-dike for some P57.90 billion.

Ang said the conglomerate was still planning to switch on its service within the year even as talks with potential joint venture partner Australia’s Telstra Corp. had ended.

“We hope to provide service within the year. But we are making sure the coverage and quality are good before we switch on,” Ang said.

San Miguel and Telstra ended talks on a $1-billion joint investment in a new mobile network in the Philippines after failing to agree on terms.

Ang also said the company was ready to break ground for the P63-billion MRT 7 project.

“We should be doing the groundbreaking very, very soon,” Ang said.

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