Here is a good news regarding San Miguel going into the telecom business.
San Miguel readies strategy for share sale, telco spending
By Marites S. Villamor, BusinessWorld
Posted at 04/08/2011 10:32 AM | Updated as of 04/11/2011 12:28 PM
CEBU CITY -- Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is expected to announce today the terms of a P250-billion share sale and bond issuance in line with plans to spend for infrastructure and telecommunication projects, officials said.
Aurora T. Calderon, senior vice-president, said they were still waiting for the market situation report from their foreign underwriters -- Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank.
The report is expected to be presented to the management before this week is over.
“It (secondary offering) has not been decided. What was approved was for us to consider an offering. We will make a decision within this week and announce the terms by Friday night,” she said in an interview after an investors’ briefing here Wednesday evening.
Another investors’ briefing will be held in Manila on Monday.
Its board had announced this week that it approved the sale of San Miguel common shares and the issuance of convertible bonds.
The fund-raising comes as the food-to-power giant moves to step up its presence in the infrastructure and mobile networks in time for upcoming government auctions of contracts and the merger of two telecommunication rivals, the officials said.
“We need more [funds] for infrastructure,” Ms. Calderon said, noting that its oil refining unit Petron Corp. can reportedly fund itself while the power generation businesses can likewise tap internal funds.
Infrastructure projects, meanwhile, don’t have funding yet and the requirement for this will be big, she said.
The conglomerate has pending infrastructure projects such as the P2.5-billion Caticlan Airport upgrade, the P19-billion Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway and the $1.5-billion Metro Rail Transit construction and operation, according to earlier reports.
San Miguel is also looking at the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) projects, especially those that involve construction or upgrading of railways, tollways, airports and terminals, she added.
A debut into the mobile telecommunications market this year may also be in the works if the conglomerate “finds a very good entry strategy,” Ms. Calderon said.
San Miguel owns more than a third of Liberty Telecoms Holdings, Inc.
whose flagship product is the wireless broadband wi-Tribe.
“The telco team is developing our strategy of entry. They are expected to complete the marketing and technical reviews in six to 10 months. If they finish early, it (launching) will be this year,” she said.
Ferdinand K. Constantino, chief financial officer, said they were still “carefully planning and preparing” for their entry into the mobile telecom market. San Miguel shares closed 0.175% higher at P171.70 apiece yesterday.
Source:
San Miguel readies strategy for share sale, telco spending | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features
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San Miguel goes into the telecom business (Liberty Telecoms Holdings, Inc.)
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