San Miguel F&B unit eyes P143 billion from share sale

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. (SMFB), the newly consolidated food and beverage subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., plans to raise up to P142.8 billion from the sale of up to 1.02 billion shares.

The company set an offer price of up to P140 per share, sending its share price soaring to P92.10 yesterday, up 15.12 percent  from Wednesday.

According to the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SMFB’s follow-on offering involves 887 million secondary shares owned by parent firm San Miguel and an over-allotment option covering 133 million shares.

The final pricing and allocation of the offer shares was  set on Oct. 19, while the offer period will run from Oct.  23 to 29.

SMFB tapped J.P. Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley Asia, UBS AG Singapore branch as joint global coordinators; Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs as joint bookrunners; BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. as local lead underwriters; and Standard Chartered Bank as financial adviser.

Part of the proceeds will be used for investments in the San Miguel Group, including capital and funding requirements of future projects.

The deal could be the largest equity offering in the local bourse, surpassing the P38-billion share offer of taipan Lucio Tan’s LT Group Inc. in 2013

 Key brands under SMFB’s  portfolio include San Miguel Pale Pilsen San Mig Light and Red Horse for beer; Ginebra San Miguel for gin, Magnolia for chicken, ice cream and dairy products; Purefoods for processed meat and Monterey for fresh and marinated meats.

The company’s food and beverage businesses had combined sales of P205.4 billion, P227.3 billion and P251.6 billion in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

In the first half, SMFB reported a net income of P15.4 billion, up 20 percent year on year. Revenues grew 15 percent to P2137.4 billion while operating income rose 20 percent to P22.9 billion.