2GO chief leaves as new investors, SMIC settle in

2GO Group Inc. president and CEO Sulficio Tagud Jr. retired from the company last Friday following the entry of new investors, including businessman Dennis Uy and billionaire Henry Sy Sr.’s SM Investments Corp.

Taking Tagud’s place at the company’s helm is Uy, CEO of Phoenix Petroleum, according to a stock exchange filing made by 2GO on Monday. The developments followed a brief legal row between both individuals, mainly over the company’s ownership. This formally ended when Uy joined 2GO’s board in February this year.

Frederic C. Dybuncio, Ma. Concepcion F. de Claro and Laurito E. Serrano also joined 2GO’s board, replacing Tagud, Jeremias Cruzabra and Jose Amor Amorado, the same filing showed.

“We are committed to bring 2GO to new heights,” Uy said in a separate statement on Monday, citing benefits from the Duterte administration’s infrastructure push.

“We thank Mr. Tagud for his contributions in making 2GO resilient and more stable than ever. We hope to continue guiding it to further growth and sustainability,” he added.

Tagud has been CEO and president of 2GO Group, previously known as Aboitiz Transport Corp., since 2010. He took the company’s helm when his Negros Holdings Management Corp. led a group of foreign investors to acquire Aboitiz Transport from Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.

2GO is considered the country’s biggest logistics provider. It controls over 90 percent percent of the country’s passenger freight and a third of the market in terms of cargo. Those businesses deliver close to half of revenues, 2GO officials said last year. It is also involved in other value-added services.

The shareholder change occurred when Negros Holdings’ foreign partners, Kuwait’s KGL Investments B.V. and China Asean Marine B.V., sold all or most of their holdings to Uy’s Udenna Corp. and SM Investments, respectively.

It was an indirect transaction as KGL Investments and China Asean Marine are shareholders in a company called Negros Navigation Co., which controls about 88 percent of 2GO.

This gave the combined Uy and SM Group bloc control over 2GO.

SM Investments disclosed last week that it acquired its 34.5 percent of Negros Navigation for $124.5 million. The investment was made as the property, retail and banking conglomerate sought to diversify in the logistics business. Udenna said earlier it held about 21 percent of 2GO’s voting shares.

Udenna, which owns Phoenix, traces its logistics roots to 2006 via Chelsea Shipping Corp., mainly to support its petroleum business.

“Aside from creating synergies among 2GO, our existing shipping operations and other businesses in other sectors, we look forward to expanding Chelsea Logistics to become the prime mover of goods and passengers in the Philippines,” Uy said in his statement.