SMC buys Cebu shipyard property for P596M

A UNIT of diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has acquired parcels of land at the biggest shipyard in the Visayas area.

Keppel Philippines Holdings Inc. said it had sold its 72-percent stake in Keppel Cebu Shipyard Land Inc. (KCSLI) to SMC Shipping and Lighterage Corp.

KCSLI is a company that owns pieces of land and land improvements leased to Keppel Cebu Shipyard Inc. Keppel Philippines is a subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corp. Ltd.

Keppel Holdings said it sold KCSLI because it no longer had operations on the property that the company owned.

The shares in KCSLI, held by Keppel Holdings’ unit Goodsoil Marine Realty Inc., will be sold for a total of P596.2 million.

“It was arrived at on a willing-buyer-and-willing-seller basis, taking into account the fair market value of the property and the buyer’s strategic interest in the property,” Keppel Holdings said in a disclosure.

SMC Shipping is the cargo handling, warehousing and shipping service provider to the San Miguel group. The company said the acquisition was meant to “expand its business interests,” but did not elaborate.

SMC is the biggest food and beverage conglomerate in Southeast Asia. Among its core subsidiaries are San Miguel Brewery Inc., Ginebra San Miguel Inc., San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc. and San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.

The SMC group, led by chair Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and run by president Ramon S. Ang, has been diversifying into heavy industries such as power generation and infrastructure to add to its growth drivers as revenues from traditional sources plateau.