ING reports good year for deal-making

Despite the economic challenges seen by the Philippines earlier in the year, this 2018 has been a good year for deal-making in the Philippines, Dutch financial giant ING said.

This year, ING advised on $9.2 billion worth of deals in the country, placing its total merger and acquisition transactions handled to more than $26 billion since it started operating as a Manila Branch in 1990.

“We continue to strongly demonstrate to our clients, particularly local conglomerates that need to grow bigger through mergers and acquisitions, that ING not only has the depth of sector experience and strong relationships with major local players, but also significant on-the-ground presence,” ING country manager Hans Sicat said.

From October 2017 to September 2018, ING acted as the financial adviser for six major deals in the country. Among these were the $6.5-billion restructuring of San Miguel Corp.’s food and beverage business and the $1.9-billion divestment of AES and Egco’s combined 100-percent stake in Masinloc to SMC Global Power. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA