Ginebra San Miguel Inc., the liquor manufacturing unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., is in talks with three foreign companies for possible acquisition.
San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in an interview following the annual stockholders’ meeting Ginebra was on the lookout for acquisitions after the liquor company regained market leadership in the domestic market.
“There are many opportunities to acquire, mostly international business. [We are in talks with] three foreign firms engaged in hard liquor business,” Ang said.
He said the talks were being arranged by brokers, but declined to give details on the negotiations. He added San Miguel had a high 80 percent success rate in terms of acquisitions.
“[We have many] acquisitions in the last eight years [or] since 2008 and we have success rate of 80 percent… across all industries,” Ang said.
Ginebra in 2015 reduced its net loss to P385 million from P766 million recorded in 2014.
The liquor company turned around in the first quarter of 2016, registering a net income of P54 million from a loss of P29 million a year ago, as net sales rose seven percent to P3.93 billion.
“We are confident that the company will sustain its gains for the rest of the year with relevant marketing initiatives that will resonate across consumer segments,” Ginebra president Bernard Marquez said.
Meanwhile, Ang defended the company’s decision to invest in coal-fired power plants, which other groups consider to be harmful to the environment because of bad emissions.
Ang said San Miguel uses clean technology in its coal-fired power plants compared with pulverised coal power plants which are seven times more harmful to the environment.
“If properly designed, [there is no] pollution, that is the kind of power plant that we are putting up. Clean coal technology, meaning circulating fluidized-bed broiler, and our emission control comes with water spray tower and bad filters,” Ang said.
First Philippine Holdings Inc of the Lopez Group on Monday said it would not invest in coal-fired power plants because of the harmful effects on the environment.
Instead of building coal-fired power plants, FPH president Federico Lopez said the group would push for the development of geothermal power plants, as well as renewable energy like wind, solar and hydro.