While trolling around the Pinoy Exchange forums, I came across an interesting discussion about my previous post about the San Miguel Corporation possibly selling control of some of its core businesses in food, beer, and liquor. The last post, about a potential buyer for the San Miguel Pure Foods Corporation, caught my eye, and got my wheels turning:

i have a source na baka daw ibenta ang pfoods sa unilab. not sure about pero parang ganun daw. though nagtataka ako ang layo ng unilab para mag venture sa food industry. i asked him if what will happen to pfoods once mangyari nun.. no answer siya

At first glance, it doesn’t seem to make sense; why would Unilab, the country’s biggest pharmaceutical company, be interested in Purefoods?

Well, a heir of the Campos clan, Joselito “Butch” Campos, started his own food conglomerate called NutriAsia. It initially started small, producing sauces, ketchup, and vinegar.

The company, however, set its sights to something bigger when in 2005, Campos tried to acquire Del Monte Pacific. However, rumor had it that the family was unwilling to fund the purchase with Unilab money. Meanwhile, Del Monte Pacific had another buyer interested: First Pacific, which you may remember as the investment company headed by one Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Campos still succeeded in acquiring Del Monte Pacific by forming a joint venture with San Miguel Corporation to buy the company. But the partnership did not last long. In 2007, Butch got clearance to finally dip into family funds to buy out the whole San Miguel stake in the JV and take control of Del Monte Pacific, with SMC getting some $150-million out of the deal. It was an amicable parting, which San Miguel Corporation president Ramon Ang described as “is consistent with the original agreement that provided for a friendly process of disengagement by either party.”

Again, let me make it clear, the sale of SMPFC is still just a wild rumor right now. But an acquisition of SMPFC, which includes popular brands such as Purefoods, Magnolia, Monterey, B-MEG, and many others, would fit in well with the Campos family’s burgeoning food empire, which include Del Monte, UFC, Datu Puti, and Mang Tomas. The two parties seem to have a healthy relationship. A sale doesn’t sound so far-fetched, doesn’t it? For Purefoods fans: How does the Del Monte Fit 'N Right Slimmers sound to you?

Curiously, the patriarch of the Campos clan, Jose Yao Campos, was also known to be a Marcos crony, like current San Miguel chairman Danding Cojuangco.