MANILA, Philippines--Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC), a sovereign fund that manages Singapore’s foreign reserves, bought some 9.5 percent of Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc., market sources said.

Pepsi will list its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

GIC is a global investment company established in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves. With a network of eight offices in key financial capitals around the world, GIC invests internationally in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, money markets, alternative investments, real estate projects and private equity.

It manages more than $100 billion in funds, making it one of the world’s largest fund management firms.

Pepsi Philippines has set its public offer price at P3.50 -- the lower end of its price range of P3.50-P4.30. At that price, the offer can raise for the company and its shareholders at least P4 billion.

Eduardo Francisco, president of underwriter BDO Capital and Investment Corp., said that at this price he was optimistic local investors would pick up the stock.

Pepsi Philippines said it would use about P1.35 billion of the proceeds from the sale of new shares to finance capital expenditures in 2008 and 2009.

The company intends to put up more noncarbonated beverage production facilities, increase soft drinks production capacity of certain plants and expand its PET production capacity during the period. Elizabeth S. Lacson; edited by INQUIRER.net