Philippines News Archives

Saturday, March 24, 2001

AC ( 03/23/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp said an initial agreement with San Miguel for the sale of its
unit Pure Foods Corp remains in force despite legal action by San
Miguel's joint venture partner, Campofrio Alimentacion. "We are not
party to the suit. This is a suit versus a counter suit. We can't
comment on that. It's up to San Miguel," Ayala Corp managing director
Rufino Luis Manotok told AFX-ASIA. Asked if the memorandum of
understanding with San Miguel concerning the Pure Foods sale
stands, Manotok said: "Yes." The memorandum signed Monday stated
that there is an agreement in principle between San Miguel and Ayala
to conclude negotiations of the sale by Ayala of unit Pure Foods
within the second quarter of this year. Under the agreement, San
Miguel will conduct due diligence on Pure Foods. Campofrio filed a suit
against San Miguel at the London Chamber of Commerce for breach of
its 1991 agreement forming their joint venture, San Miguel Campocarne
Corp. Campofrio said the agreement prohibited either of them entering
into accords with other companies in the sector, as this would entail
direct competition for the joint venture. The Campofrio suit came after
San Miguel sued the Spanish company for reneging on an earlier
agreement to buy out San Miguel's 50 pct stake in their SMCC joint
venture for 6 M usd.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:41 AM

Thursday, March 22, 2001

AC ( 03/21/2001 : PSE )
This is in reply to the letter of March 20 regarding the article in
Business World on San Miguel Corporation and Ayala Corporation
reaching an agreement on the price for Pure Foods Corporation. The
company would like to advise that there has been an agreement in
principle by San Miguel Corporation and Ayala Corporation to conclude
negotiations on the sale/purchase of Pure Foods within the second
quarter of this year. At this time, however, there has been no
definitive agreement entered into by both parties which would cover
specific matters like valuation.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:42 AM

Wednesday, March 21, 2001

AC ( 03/20/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp unit Manila Water Co Inc will proceed with its 1.5 B peso
capital expenditure programme this year despite continued losses
from the peso's depreciation and a delayed rate increase, the
Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Manila Water president Antonino
Aquino as saying. "We will continue our projects. We have developed
a business plan that will cover our foreign exchange losses, but it will
require a lot of belt tightening on our part," Aquino said. Regulatory
authorities allowed Manila Water to raise its rates by 0.19 pesos early
this year, following its petition for a 0.23 peso rate hike to cover the
weakness of the peso. It has a 0.18 peso rate hike pending, subject to
a case with the Court of Appeals. "Every month that this provisional
increase on our basic rates is delayed, it's causing us some 4-5 M
pesos in losses. The net impact of this delay, I am afraid, will result in
higher water rates for consumers," said Aquino. Despite its losses,
Aquino said Manila Water has no plans to return its concession, unlike
its counterpart Maynilad Water Services which has threatened to end
its contract with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
if it is not granted an automatic currency exchange rate adjustment
scheme.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:44 AM

AC ( 03/20/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp has not reached a final agreement yet with San Miguel
Corp on its selling price for unit Pure Foods Corp, Ayala managing
director Rufino Luis Manotok told AFX-ASIA. He was responding to an
earlier report by the BusinessWorld newspaper that a price of 8.0 B
peso had been agreed on. "The truth is we haven't had any definitive
agreement. There has been some discussion but there has not been
any definitive agreement," said Manotok. Manotok said a memorandum
of understanding was signed yesterday but it concerned only the
steps to be taken for the sale, including a due diligence exercise. "We
have agreed to take it several steps ahead and we're hoping that we
can complete everything before the end of the second quarter. We'll
decide on whether it's a go or no go, hopefully in May," said Manotok.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:43 AM

AC ( 03/20/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp expects to sign the final agreement on the sale of its unit
to Pure Foods Corp in May, Ayala Corp president Jaime Augusto Zobel
de Ayala said. He did not comment on the sale price. A newspaper
today reported that San Miguel and Ayala Corp agreed on a price of 8
B pesos. Zobel de Ayala said an initial agreement on the sale was
signed yesterday. He gave no details.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:43 AM

AC ( 03/20/2001 : AFX )
San Miguel Corp said it has no agreement yet with Ayala Corp on the
valuation of unit Pure Foods Corp. In a letter to the stock exchange,
San Miguel corporate information officer Ferdinand Constantino said
that San Miguel and Ayala, however, agreed to conclude the
negotiations on the sale of Pure Foods within the second quarter of
this year. "At this time, however, there has been no definitive
agreement entered into by both parties which would cover specific
matters like valuation," Constantino said.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:42 AM

Tuesday, March 20, 2001

AC ( 03/19/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp will soon sign a memorandum of agreement with San
Miguel Corp which will facilitate the sale of its unit Pure Foods Corp to
San Miguel. "There has been an agreement that there will be an MOA
signing. It will spell out the sale of Pure Foods...I must emphasize that
this (signing) can happen anytime," said Manotok. A Philippine Daily
Inquirer report today said that an agreement will be signed within the
week on the sale of Pure Foods to San Miguel. "That was part of the
plan...Definitely, there will be an MOA signing," Manotok said. When
asked the price at which Ayala will sell its 93 pct stake in Pure Foods,
Manotok said that a due diligence will still have to be undertaken and
that the pricing has not been determined. "The MOA is nothing
definitive. It's not a deed of sale yet. I guess for a limited period, there
will be some exclusivity (in the talks)," said Manotok. He could not say
when the details of the sale will be finalised. Manotok said that there
are two foreign groups and one local group interested in Pure Foods
aside from San Miguel. "But clearly, San Miguel is in the lead. We could
extract synergies." At 10:04 a.m., Ayala Corp and Pure Foods were
untraded but last closed at 7.40 and 95.00 pesos respectively. San
Miguel A was up 1.0 peso at 48 while B was down 0.50 at 52.50.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:45 AM

AC ( 03/19/2001 : AFX )
San Miguel Corp said it has agreed with Ayala Corp to buy the latter's
unit Pure Foods Corp for 8.0 B pesos, newspaper BusinessWorld
said, quoting San Miguel vice chairman Ramon Ang. "We haven't
signed anything but it's almost a done deal. We're still talking on some
terms but we've decided to close it at 8 B pesos," said Ang, adding
the deal will not include Pure Foods' 1.0 B peso outstanding debts.
The market has been speculating on a 7-9 B peso acquisition price for
Pure Foods. Ang said San Miguel is negotiating with Ayala Corp to
exclude from the deal fastfood subsidiary PhilKing Restaurants
Development Corp, the local holder of the Burger King franchise.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:44 AM

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