Roxas Holdings, URC complete Negros asset purchase deal

MANILA, Philippines — Listed bio-sugar and bio-energy company Roxas Holdings Inc. has completed the sale of its Negros Occidental assets to Gokongwei-owned Universal Robina Corp. (URC).

In a disclosure to the local bourse, RHI said it has closed its asset sale transaction with URC for its sugar mill and ethanol plant in La Carlota City and its investment properties, consisting of shares in Najalin Agri-Ventures Inc.

URC, 55 percent owned by JG Summit Holdings Inc., is involved in a wide range of food-related businesses, organized into three business segments namely branded consumer food, agro-industrial, and commodity food.

“With this development, RHI will be able to focus its resources on Central Azucarera Don Pedro Inc. (CADPI) to meet the discerning sugar requirements of our clients and boost the operations of our ethanol facility, San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. (SCBI),” RHI chairman Pedro Roxas said.

“We aspire to shape CADPI’s refinery, strategically situated in Batangas, into a facility with world-class operations that can cater to a larger market,” he said.

RHI president and CEO Hubert Tubio said the strategic location of CADPI brings it closer to industrial users, mainly food manufacturing companies and beverage producers that use their products.

“We hope to make CADPI ready and poised to seize opportunities with the expected increase in refined sugar consumption while helping the government minimize the importation of refined sugar,” Tubio said.

Proceeds from the transaction were used to pare down debts of the company.

With the changing market dynamics in the sugar industry, RHI sees the need to refocus its resources and maximize the opportunity in the food manufacturing companies and beverage producers.

Last month, the Philippine Competition Commission gave its green light for the transaction – informing both parties that its evaluation show the deal “will not likely result in substantial lessening of competition in the markets for the provision of sugar cane milling services and tolling services in Negros Island, as well as the national markets for bioethanol, the sale of raw sugar sold in wholesale, and the sale of molasses to traders.”