MANILA, Philippines ? San Miguel Purefoods Co. Inc., the food unit of the San Miguel group, plans to raise about P5 billion from the sale of new shares through either a public offering, private placement or a combination of these within this year.

Shareholders of SMPFC, in an annual stockholders meeting Friday, approved the issuance of 75 million new common shares to parent company San Miguel and/or third parties. US investment bank JP Morgan was mandated to handle the transaction.

SMPFC president Francisco Alejo told reporters at the sidelines of the company's stockholders meeting that the relaunch of shares would be done as soon as possible, hopefully before the elections.

The relaunch will also widen the company's public float, currently at a measly 0.1 percent, to meet the 10 percent minimum listing requirement of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

"Proceeds will be used to pay debt, including the acquisition of the Vietnam business and the intellectual rights," Alejo said.

The hog farming and feed milling business in Vietnam is the only overseas food business that is not yet folded into SMFPC.

The company is thus buying this from parent San Miguel as part of the consolidation of all food businesses into SMFPC.