Mega Global forms new subsidiary

Mega Global Corp (MGC), the company behind the Mega Sardines sardines brand, announced on Tuesday the restructuring of its business operations through the creation of a new subsidiary that will be in charge of sales and distribution of its products.

The new subsidiary, Mega Prime Foods Inc. (MPFI), was officially launched on Tuesday, adding to the parent company’s two other existing units: the Mega Fishing Corp (MFC), the group’s commercial fishing subsidiary, and the Mega Tiu Lim Foundation, its corporate social responsibility arm.

“This is just a change in structure because we aim to professionalize our business ecosystems so that we can deliver the highest quality products to Filipinos better and faster. Our commitment remains the same,” said MPFI chief executive officer Michelle Tiu Lim-Chan said during a press conference.

As the biggest subsidiary, Chan said MPFI would host all the products currently known under the Mega brand, as well as serve as an incubator for the new product releases in the future.

MFC will still be in charge of the group’s  fishing, can-making, shipbuilding, ice production, and sardines-canning operations, added Lim-Chan.

She added that MFC’s fishing and canning operations in Zamboanga would supply  MPFI’s canned sardines products in Visayas, Mindanao and some parts of Luzon.

The group’s canning plant in Batangas will get its fish supply from nearby fishing docks, Lim-Chan said.

More jobs

Marvin Tiu Lim, MGC chief growth and development officer, said an additional 1,000 jobs would be created for the plant in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, on top of the existing 4,000 jobs across all business units.

Lim said the expansion would also mean additional indirect jobs for the local community.

“We have to realize that we will also be impacting many, many more people such as the fishermen who are there in the sea. We will depend on them for their fish catch.

Lim said they had invested almost P1 billion for the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant, with more plans for future expansion.

“We really believe in investing here in the Philippines, investing in the people, investing to make this place a better place and locally competitive,” he added.

Going for an IPO

Lim remains optimistic that the Mega group can have an initial public offering (IPO)  by 2025 He, however, did not give details of the plan.

“We have to get to a certain scale before it can be attractive to a lot of people, including international investors. If we are not ready as a company, we will not take it public,” he said, referring to a certain level of revenues, product volume, and the number of distribution channels.