SMC to sell unit’s shares at P85 each

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp.(SMC) is selling shares in its flagship food unit at the low end of the price range amid difficult market conditions.

San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc., the holding company for key brands such as San Miguel beer and processed meats producer San Miguel PureFoods, said in a stock exchange filing that its secondary share sale set to commence later this month was priced at P85 per share.

The offer size, reduced further to about 461 million shares including an overallotment option, could raise a maximum of P39 billion.

Last week, SMC reduced the offer price range to between P85 and P95 per share from the original maximum price of P140 a share.

The final price was set amid a massive selloff on Wall Street overnight.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index, meanwhile, closed down 2.28 percent on Thursday.

Shares of San Miguel Food and Beverage declined 0.95 recent to P83 per share on the same day.

According to the prospectus of San Miguel Food and Beverage, 97 percent of the shares will be offered to institutional investors while 3 percent will be sold to Philippine Stock Exchange trading participants.

SMC said the proceeds from the offer would be used for its investments.