San Miguel Packaging acquires 3rd Aussie bottler

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has expanded its footprint in the Australiasian region with the acquisition of Best Bottlers Pty. Ltd., a wine bottling and packaging facility in Victoria, Australia.

This marks the third acquisition in Australia by SMC’s international packaging unit San Miguel Yamamura Packaging International Ltd. (SMYPIL), the group announced on Tuesday.

The acquisition was done through SMYPIL’s Australian subsidiary, San Miguel Yamamura Australasia Pty Ltd.

Best Bottlers specializes in various formats of contract filling, including still and sparkling wines, cider, ready-to-drink and non-alcoholic beverages, including fruit juices.

Earlier this year, SMC’s packaging arm acquired Barossa Bottling and Portavin, both in Australia.

Best Bottlers is the group’s fifth acquisition in the region serving the wine industry. In the prior years, the packaging group acquired the assets of Endeavor Glass of New Zealand, and the cork and wine closures business of Vinocor, and Cospak, another major packaging provider.

“As domestic and export demands grow, we continue to look for synergies and more opportunities for our packaging business. In line with this, we are building a new glass plant in Cavite to be operational by the end of 2018. Other than glass, we also see the potential to grow other packaging formats like cans, plastics, and tolling businesses,” said Ramon S. Ang, SMC president and chief operating officer.