Aboitiz buying 40% stake in Coca-Cola bottler

By Jenni er B. Austria

ABOITIZ Equity Ventures Inc. teamed up with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC to acquire beverage bottler Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. for $1.8 billion. AEV will take 40 percent in CCBP under the agreement.

AEV and CCEP said in a joint statement they signed a non-binding letter of intent with The Coca-Cola Company to acquire the latter’s 100-percent stake in CCBP on a debt-free cash-free basis

The deal is consistent with TCCC’s stated intent to divest its bottling operations. CCBP is engaged in the bottling and distribution of Coca-Cola products in the Philippines.

AEV said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday it is in advanced discussions with CCEP on a potential joint acquisition of CCBP under a 60:40 ownership structure between CCEP and AEV.

“AEV’s proposed acquisition of CCBP, with CCEP, offers a great opportunity to co-acquire an established, well-run business with attractive profitability and growth prospects,” the conglomerate said.

Once completed, the proposed acquisition would enable AEV to expand into branded consumer goods space and further diversify its business portfolio which includes power generation, banking, property, infrastructure and agriculture sector.

“AEV would be well positioned to support CCBP’s growth ambition given the synergies that can be generated from AEV’s other businesses,” the company said.

CCEP, for its part, said the proposed acquisition of CCBPI with AEV “offers a great opportunity to co-acquire an established, well-run business with attractive profitability and growth prospects”.

CCEP said the deal would enable it to build on its successful expansion into Australia, Pacific & Indonesia in 2021, positioning it as the world’s largest CocaCola bottler by both revenue and volume. CCBI operates 19 manufacturing plants and about 50 sales offices and distribution centers across the Philippines.

AEV said it was expecting the deal to close by end of 2023, subject to a number of conditions including satisfactory completion of confirmatory due diligence receipt of AEV and CCEP’s board approvals, parties signing the definitive agreements and certain governmental and regulatory approvals, including clearance from the Philippine Competition Commission.

AEV said, however, there was no certainty at this stage that the proposed acquisition of CCBP would be completed, and as such, further updates would be provided in due course.

The share price of AEV fell 4.5 percent Wednesday to close at P52.05.

AEV said first-half net income declined 11 percent to P10.5 billion on non-recurring losses of P656 million linked to foreign exchange losses.

Power accounted for 72 percent of the total income contributions in the first half, followed by financial services which contributed 25 percent.

Income contributions from real estate, food and Infrastructure were at 3 percent, 1 percent and -1 percent, respectively, it said.

Pse Index Closing

Wednesday,

PAGCOR’S

British rm acquires 60% of CATS Group

BRITISH automotive company Inchcape Plc. is acquiring a 60-percent controlling stake in CATS Group of Companies, a leading distributor of luxury vehicles in the Philippines. Inchcape, the leading global automotive distributor, formed a joint venture with CATS Group which includes the acquisition by Inchcape of a controlling 60-percent stake, with the remaining 40 percent held by the CATS’ founding Ang family. Inchcape Philippines, the joint venture, combines Inchcape and CATS’ commercial resources, advanced digital capabilities, global insights and local market knowledge with the goal to power better mobility in the Philippines.

The expansion into the Philippines further builds on Inchcape’s well-established presence in the AsiaPacific region of over 10 markets.

SPNEC secures over 4,000 hectares of land in Luzon

SP New Energy Corp. said Wednesday that together with its subsidiaries, it secured more than 4,000 hectares of land, mostly in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Tarlac and Batangas.

SPNEC said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange that it secured over 3,000 through deeds of sale or contracts to sell and another 1,000 hectares through contracts to lease. It said more than 2,000 hectares were approved for conversion into industrial use.

SPNEC has been increasing its land holdings as large solar power projects require vast areas.

“We thank all who have helped us grow SPNEC’s assets, from its initial 352 hectares, to over 4,000 hectares, and from a single project, to a portfolio of projects operating, under construction, and under development. It is time for us to build upon what we have so far, and work on turning these hectares into megawatts,” Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste said.

SPNEC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Solar Philippines which is part of the SP Group, an integrated developer, owner and operator of solar power projects. Alena Mae S. Flores

LandBank’s pro t rose

2.7% to P20.9b in rst half

LAND BANK of the Philippines said Wednesday net profit hit P20.9 billion in the first half, exceeding its target for the period by 19 percent or P3.3 billion.

LandBank said in a statement the six-month income was 2.7 percent higher than P20.3 billion it earned a year ago and represented almost 60 percent of its P35-billion full-year target.

“We are very much on track in meeting our financial targets for the year, as income from loans and investments continue to expand,” LandBank president and chief executive Lynette Ortiz said.

“LandBank is in a prime position to sustain our intensified support to the agriculture sector and other key industries,” she said.

The bank attributed the net income growth in the first semester to earnings from loans and investments, which increased by 49.8 percent and 43.5 percent, respectively. Julito G. Rada