SMC installs 5 representatives to PAL board

MANILA, Philippines - Following the purchase of a substantial stake, San Miguel Corp. yesterday installed five representatives to the board of PAL Holdings Inc. with businessman Ramon Ang taking the helm of the flag carrier’s parent company.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, PAL Holdings said the board elected Ang as the new president of PAL Holdings, replacing Jaime Bautista. Also elected during yesterday’s meeting were Top Frontier major shareholders Roberto V. Ongpin and Iñigo Zobel, as well as Aurora Calderon and San Miguel chief financial officer Ferdinand Constantino.

They replaced Wilson Young, Juanita Tan Lee, Johnip Cua and Cecilia Pesayco.

The board likewise appointed Harry Tan, brother of tobacco and beer magnate Lucio Tan, as treasurer.

Lawyer Estelito Mendoza likewise was named corporate secretary while Pesayco is the assistant corporate secretary.

San Miguel gained management control of PAL. Under the deal with Tan’s Trustmark Holdings, San Miguel will take indirect stakes of 40 percent in Philippine Airlines Corp. (PAL) and 49 percent in its low-cost partner Air Philippines Corp., for $500 million. The investment will flow back to the company to fund its refleeting program aimed at staying competitive in the business.

San Miguel has spent at least $3 billion since 2007 when it embarked on an aggressive plan to diversify from its food and drinks businesses into almost every capital intensive sector – from power and telecoms to mining, banking and infrastructure.