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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