MacroAsia selling 49% stake in logistics company

Publicly listed MacroAsia Corp. said Wednesday it was selling its interest in a third-party logistics company to concentrate on its core business, which is aviation.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said it would divest itself of its 49-percent stake in Toll-MacroAsia Philippines Inc. to Toll (Asia) PTE Ltd of Singapore.

Toll-MacroAsia was incorporated in October 2005 as SembLog-MacroAsia Philippines Inc., a joint-venture between MacroAsia (which held 49 percent of the firm) and SembCorp Logistics Ltd. (51 percent). It was envisioned to offer third-party logistics (3PL) and supply chain management services in the Philippines.

In April 2006, the joint venture was renamed Toll-MacroAsia Philippines, after Toll Holdings Ltd. acquired a controlling stake in SembCorp Logistics Ltd.

“The exit by MacroAsia from the 3PL business is in line with the MacroAsia Group’s corporate strategy to focus on four core business interests,” the company said in a statement.

Its core businesses include aviation services, in which it does aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), airport gateway/ground support services, and helicopter services.

MacroAsia is also into food services—airline catering and food provisioning for airline lounges and selected nonairline institutions.

It is also involved in airport-related property development, focusing on special economic zones for aviation services; and natural resources development, particularly mining and water resources.

“As an update to our April disclosure to the PSE this year, Lufthansa Technik Philippines, our affiliate, is on track with its ongoing hangar expansion project to accommodate maintenance works for the Airbus A380,” the company said.

“The $30-million project is expected to be completed and operational by the first quarter of 2012,” it said.

It also said its airline catering subsidiary, MacroAsia Catering Services, also plans to expand its inflight catering facility to increase capacity by about 50 percent.

“MacroAsia continues to be recognized formally by its clients as one of their top-quality services providers,” the firm said. “These clients benchmark MacroAsia’s performance with their other providers worldwide.”