Phoenix buys 21% of 2GO

Phoenix Petroleum chief executive office Dennis Uy has acquired a 21-percent stake in publicly listed logistics firm 2GO Group Inc., coming in as a strategic partner of the Negros Navigation shipping group.

Uy’s holding firm Udenna Corp. acquired the shares held by KGL Investment B.V. (KGL-BV), a Dutch company, which has a beneficial ownership of about 60 percent of KGLI-NM Holding, Inc., which controls shipping firm Negros Navigation Co. Inc.

Udenna now holds 21 percent of 2GO’s registered shares while its beneficial ownership is now 31 percent.  The investment is seen to complement Phoenix Petroleum’s businesses such as trading of refined petroleum products and operation of gas stations, oil depots, storage facilities and allied services.

Negros Navigation owns 88.31 percent of 2GO Group, an integrated transport solutions provider.

2GO was formed and organized in 1949 under the corporate name William Lines Inc. On Dec. 21, 1995, William Lines Inc., Carlos A. Gothong Lines Inc. and Aboitiz Shipping Corp. consolidated their resources and expertise to establish William, Gothong & Aboitiz, Inc. (WG&A). In 2004, WG&A changed its corporate name to Aboitiz Transport System Corp. as a result of the purchase by Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. of the Chiongbian and Gothong holdings in WG&A.

The company changed its name to the current one in 2012. It adopted the brand “2GO” as the flagship brand for its three core business units: 2GO Freight, which handles commercial and personal shipping needs; 2GO Travel, which integrates passenger ships and fast ferries through land and sea multimodal transport linkages, and 2GO Supply Chain, which handles logistics, distribution, warehousing, and inventory management. The Company is engaged in the movement of people for passage business (2GO Travel) and cargo business (2GO Freight).

As of the end of 2015, 2GO and its subsidiaries have a total fleet of 23 operating vessels, of which 19 are company-owned. As of 2015, 2GO had four direct subsidiaries: 2GO Express, Inc., The Supercat Fast Ferry Corp., NN-ATS Logistics Management & Holdings Co. Inc., and Special Container and Value Added Services Inc. The company also has 33 percent ownership of MCC Transport Philippines Inc.

For its part, Phoenix petroleum’s products are distributed and marketed under the brand name, “Phoenix Fuels Life.”