31% of tenders for SMC Global’s bonds accepted

Tycoon Ramon Ang-led conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) announced on Monday the conclusion of its power unit’s tender offer for foreign bonds and the start of another one related to its acquisition of Eagle Cement Corp.

The industry giant, in a disclosure on Monday, said SMC Global Power Holdings Corp.’s tender offer for senior perpetual capital securities listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. had been concluded on Nov. 4.

The power unit accepted $123.93 million worth of tenders, which was below the $400-million threshold SMC Global Power had previously announced.

“It seems that some investors are willing to tender their shares at the current market price, while others feel a higher price would be more acceptable,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan told the Inquirer.

The payment date for the settlement of the tender offer is set for Nov. 9.

Merrill Lynch (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. was the dealer manager for the transaction while D.F. King served as the information and tender agent.

Limlingan previously said that the investors viewed the tender offer as a positive development as this showed the ability of the conglomerate to settle its own debts.

Recently, Ang said they had enough resources to cover losses from the fixed power supply deals.

Cement business

Meanwhile, SMC subsidiary San Miguel Equity Investments Inc. filed on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission the mandatory tender offer for 11.5-percent common shares of affiliate Eagle Cement held by its minority shareholders.

The transaction started on Nov. 7 and will conclude by Dec. 5.

Last month, the conglomerate announced the P97-billion takeover of Eagle Cement. This involves the purchase of 88.5-percent of the cement firm at P22.02 per share.

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said that the transaction was not subject for review.

SMC currently owns Northern Cement Corp., which supplies products in Central and North Luzon. It merged with San Miguel Northern Cement Inc. in March 2021.

It also owns Southern Concrete Industries Inc., which recently completed the construction of a facility in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.

SMC had attempted to acquire Holcim Philippines in 2019 but failed as the PCC in 2020 raised anti-competitive concerns about the $2.15-billion deal.