Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Vol. IV,    No. 52      January 30 - February 5, 2005      Quezon City, Philippines

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Danding Eyes Takeover of Aussie Dairy Firm

Industrialist and former ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco is on a buying spree in Australia, but he is not into clothes, shoes and gadgets. He is buying food companies. Not contented with his previous acquisitions, he is training his guns on Australia’s only national milk company.

BY CAESAR BEN BASAN BAROÑA
Bulatlat

SYDNEY - What do locally-produced beer and Australian cheese have in common? Ask Danding Cojuangco.

Industrialist and former ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, through Philippine food and brewery giant San Miguel, plans to take over an Australian dairy company.

Danding Cojuangco

National Foods – an Australian publicly-listed company with names like Yoplait, Big M, Pura Milk and King Island cheeses under its portfolio – is currently up for grabs. According to its official website at URL http://www.natfoods.com.au, National Foods is “Australia’s largest publicly-listed dairy company” and the country’s “only national market milk company.”

San Miguel's takeover bid is an initial offer of A$1.78 billion (US$1.38 billion, based on an exchange rate of A$1.29 per US dollar), the details of which are yet to be released as of press time. Cojuangco’s offer is estimated at A$6 (US$4.65) per share.

Its nearest rival, Fonterra Foods of New Zealand, offered A$1.6 billion (US$1.24 billion). This company is reportedly under pressure from its dairy farmer stakeholders not to outbid San Miguel's.

Nevertheless, Fontera is still battling it out with San Miguel. Fonterra's chief Andrew Ferrier is said to have talked with Australian retailer Woolworths, which has a three-year A$300 million (US$232.51 million) contract with National Foods for milk supply. But along with pressure from its shareholders, Fonterra also has to deal with National Foods' brand agreement with Yoplait. French dairy group Sodima may terminate its agreement with National Foods if it is taken over by a competitor. Fontera also sells yogurt to South America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Regional expansion

Australia is one of seven countries that San Miguel has targeted for its Asia-Pacific regional expansion. San Miguel acquired half of Australia's biggest juice company Berri for A$170 million (US$131.76 million) in 2004. Danding's San Miguel also owns Tasmania's brewer J. Boag & Son, which it bought for A$92 million (US$71.30 million).

If the takeover of National Foods pushes through, about 40 percent of San Miguel's revenues will come from Australia.

Cojuangco contributes about A$6 million (US$4.65 million) a year to the Australian Jockey Club. He owns a race horse breeding farm called Gooree Park in central New South Wales (a state of Australia) town Mudgee, where he goes to at least three times a year through a private Hawker Siddeley HS 125 jet. Inside Gooree Park is Cojuangco’s ranch costing A$3 million (US$2.32 million).

It may be recalled that Cojuangco is being pursued by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) for allegedly using funds levied on Filipino coconut farmers during the Marcos dictatorship to buy a third of San Miguel's shares. The shares – bought through the coconut farmers' levy fund – were acquired through the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) purportedly in behalf of the farmers.

A 20-percent share was also bought by Cojuangco, according to him through a UCPB loan, and another unnamed principal who was later known to be the late President Ferdinand Marcos. This gave Cojuangco effective control of San Miguel. Bulatlat

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© 2004 Bulatlat  Alipato Publications

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