Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. said it will proceed with the planned acquisition of Eagle Cement Corp. after the Philippine Competition Commission ruled that the deal is not subject for review.
San Miguel said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Friday the anti-trust body issued a notice on Oct. 27 which stated that the proposed P97.4-billion takeover deal would not be subject for notification.
“While the proposed transaction breaches the thresholds prescribed by the Philippine Competition Act and its implementing rules and regulations, the commission has ruled that based on the documents and information submitted with the form, the proposed transaction is not subject to the notification requirement under the IRR,” the PCC said.
San Miguel said with the PCC decision, it would proceed with the acquisition and the mandatory tender offer for minority shareholders.
San Miguel disclosed early this month plans to acquire a controlling 88.5-percent interest in Eagle Cement to strengthen its foothold in the cement business.
The family of San Miguel president and chief executive Ramon Ang owns Eagle Cement. Under the plan, San Miguel will acquire 4.425 billion Eagle Cement shares owned by Far East Hldings Inc., Ramon Ang, Paul Ang and Monica Ang-Mercado at P22.02 apiece.
It will also conduct a tender offer to acquire 574.88 million Eagle Cement shares owned by the public.
The share price of Eagle Cement climbed 9.5 percent on Friday to close at P20.80, while San Miguel declined 0.46 percent to P98.
San Miguel owns North Cement Corp. which operates a cement plant in Sison, Pangasinan and Southern Concrete Industries Corp., formerly Oro Cemento Industries Corp., which has a production plant in Davao.
Eagle Cement operates a cement facility in San IIdefonso, Bulacan which has an annual production capacity of 8.6 million metric tons.
