SMC seeks investment opportunities

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president Ramon Ang said they are continuously searching for more investments, adding there are not enough investment opportunities available for a conglomerate as big as them.   

He said SMC is willing to sell its stake in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distributor, but there  aren’t enough investment opportunities to park the funds that would be  raised from the share sale.   

“At the right price and at the right time,” Ang said Tuesday on  the sidelines of Petron Corp’s annual stockholders meeting,  when asked  if SMC is determined to sell its stake in Meralco.   

However, he said such a sale poses a big problem because there are not  enough investment facilities available locally or abroad.   

“The problem now is where to invest. The company has a lot of cash but where can you invest? The problem of selling Meralco today is negative carry. What are you going to do with the money?” Ang said.    

However, he stressed that selling the Meralco stake would purely be a  business or investment decision.   

“Meralco and SMC are very friendly. There’s no problem,” he said.   

Last week, Ang said SMC is willing to sell its 36-percent stake in  Meralco. SMC is one of the top shareholders  in the power company. Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc., a  subsidiary of Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC),  has a nearly 50 percent interest in Meralco.   

Ang earlier said Meralco is currently trading at good prices.   

SMC acquired its stake in Meralco when the state-run Government Service  Insurance System sold its 300.963 million common shares in  2008.   

At the time, the group of Manuel V. Pangilinan had partnered with the  Lopez family to secure a controlling block in Meralco, which is  expanding into power generation business here and abroad.  

 Ang said generally, SMC is having a hard time looking for  investments, even as it is actively participating in the government’s  Public-Private Partnership  (PPP) program for infrastructure.    In April, SMC won the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway  project with an P11-billion bid.  

SMC, together with the operator of South Korea’s Incheon Airport, has  also been prequalified to participate in another PPP project, the  Mactan-Cebu airport project.   

However, Ang said investing in PPP projects is not enough for SMC.