Local firm beats SMC in bid for Mariveles Grains Terminal

MANILA, Philippines - A relatively unknown local company has beaten conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in the latter’s bid to acquire the Mariveles Grains Terminal of Asian Terminal Inc. (ATI).

STAR sources revealed that grains trader and miller La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp., owned by businessman Alfonso Uy, is about to seal a deal with ATI for the purchase of the latter’s wholly-owned unit Mariveles Grain Corp. (MGC).

About four years ago, La Filipina acquired the port facilities of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) in Guimaras Island. Aside from grains trading, it is also into corn milling, animal feeds production, among others.

It also owns a 15-percent stake in Steag State Power Inc., the owner of the 232-megawatt coal power plant located at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental. Other partners in the project are Aboitiz Power Corp. (34 percent) and Evonik Steag GmbH of Essen, Germany (51 percent).

La Filipina also owns a 1.17-percent stake in Aboitiz Equity Ventures.

ATI holds a 20-year contract to manage and develop the Mariveles Grain Terminal until 2013, renewable for another 20-year period. The terminal offers unloading, conveying, storage, outloading, weighing, bagging and sampling services, and also handles bulk cargo like wheat, soya bean meal, corn and soybeans.

SMC has been in negotiations with ATI since 2008 for the purchase of the Mariveles Grains Terminal and was confident that it would clinch the deal until ATI announced recently it was selling the Bataan grains facility to an undisclosed buyer.

SMC was planning to team up with Toyota Tsusho Corp. of Japan for the acquisition which is estimated to cost P1.6 billion. The deal would have made SMC the regional leader in grains distribution and logistics.

Sources said SMC was caught by surprise when ATI announced recently that it was selling 100 percent of its stake in wholly-owned MGC, which is one of Asia’s most advanced bulk grains terminal. The terminal can accommodate vessels of up to 70,000 deadweight tons and handles soybean meal and other grains.

ATI earlier revealed that its shareholders have approved the sale of the grains terminal to SMC, until a subsequent announcement that it was being sold to the undisclosed buyer.

The proposed sale to a “third party buyer” was approved by the ATI board and will be presented to the shareholders for approval on July 30.

The failure of SMC to acquire MGC, however, may have been a blessing in disguise.

SMC said that when its plan to acquire the Mariveles Grains Terminal from ATI did not materialize, its interest in the North Harbor modernization project gathered momentum.

The diversifying conglomerate is acquiring the 35 percent stake of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) in the Manila North Harbor Port Inc. (MNHPI), the company that bagged the 25-year, P14.5-billion contract to modernize and operate North Harbor, the country’s busiest domestic port. Harbour Center Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) of the Romero family owns the remaining 65 percent.

SMC revealed that it now plans to construct a brand-new grains terminal in the North Harbor. This grains terminal will service the needs of SMC’s food and beverage businesses.