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.

Several weeks back, I wrote about the interest of Japanese beer giant Kirin to increase its stake in San Miguel Brewery and gain control of the San Miguel subsidiary. At the time, San Miguel Corporation president Ramon Ang denied that the food and beverage giant was looking to give up control of its beer operation, saying that the company seeks to retain control of its main businesses, which include San Miguel Brewery Inc., Ginebra San Miguel Inc., and San Miguel Pure Foods Corporation.

Ang has since changed his tune, as two weeks ago, the company sought board approval to sell majority stakes in its food and beverage holdings. The company aims to raise additional capital to fund its expansion into high-growth industries.

Apart from interest from Kirin in SMB, Ang himself confirmed that the mother company is in talks to sell Ginebra to the brewery. He also said that there are already interested buyers in San Miguel Pure Foods.

It should be noted that while most of San Miguel’s traditional food brands such as Magnolia, Monterey, and B-MEG have been folded into San Miguel Pure Foods, the company is still headed by Butch Alejo, a professional manager who was part of Purefoods before the sale of the company by the Ayala Corporation to San Miguel. In previous years, San Miguel has shown few qualms about letting go of brands associated with the company: it sold its dairy business (including Magnolia ice cream) in 1998 to Nestle and its stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. (including Royal Tru-Orange) to the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company. San Miguel Pure Foods is currently in a joint venture with American meat company Hormel in its canned and processed meats business.

Further making matters interesting are the murmurs about the possibility of San Miguel chairman Danding Cojuangco cashing out of the company. The former Marcos crony has been reported to be battling an illness.

These giant moves, if and when they happen, would cause ripples beyond the business world, and it would be felt especially in the Philippine Basketball Association. The San Miguel PBA teams – San Miguel Beer, Ginebra, and Derby Ace (nee Purefoods) – provide enough marketing value apart from boosting corporate morale, so whoever controls the companies will most probably keep them around.

But there will also be changes. For one, there will be realignment, because while San Miguel and Ginebra will most likely still be sister teams, Purefoods might be under different umbrella. Also, if Cojuangco, a big-time basketball fan who once served as project director of the Philippine national basketball program, leaves San Miguel, the teams may not have a patron who will allow the carefree spending for the ball clubs’ operations.

If all these things go down, we might wake up one day to realize that the PBA is no longer an SMC league. I would not mind that at all.

Last Friday, Bloomberg reported that Kirin was looking into the possibility of raising its stake in San Miguel Brewery. The Japanese beer giant already owns 48% of the company, with San Miguel Corporation owning 51%.

An increase in stake would almost certainly give Kirin control of San Miguel Brewery’s operations, which include significant inroads into the growing Southeast Asian market that the former covets. However, any deal for the Brewery would certainly come at a premium, but if Kirin is willing to dance, San Miguel Corporation might be willing to listen. After all, the Danding Cojuangco-chaired conglomerate has been actively seeking to diversify into high-growth, capital-intensive businesses over the last couple of years. Just this month, San Miguel has been reported to be included in deals involving a power plant in Mindanao, a major expressway from Manila to Tuguegarao, and an MRT project from Manila to Bulacan.

It would be hard to imagine San Miguel Corporation giving up control of its flagship brand, but stranger things have happened in the world of business. The conglomerate, in fact, has been quite active in major transactions involving large food and beverage businesses in the country. In 1998, San Miguel sold its stake in its ice cream and dairy business to erstwhile joint venture partner Nestle, which led to Magnolia ice cream being off the market for five years. In 2001, San Miguel bought the Purefoods business from the Ayala Corporation, which was looking to raise funds to finance capital expenditure for its Globe Telecom business. In 2007, San Miguel sold its stake in the local Coke business to the Coca-Cola Company, effectively ending a partnership that dates back to 1927.

Curiously, the last two transactions directly involved PBA ballclubs. It remains to be seen how this potential transaction would affect the status of the San Miguel team, who are a big part of the company’s culture owing to Cojuangco’s love of the sport; the Brewery’s corporate website, in fact, reserves a prominent spot for the Beermen. Will the San Miguel Corporation retain control of the Beermen even if it no longer controls the Brewery? Will the PBA franchise be re-assigned to another San Miguel subsidiary, that is, welcome back, Magnolia Beverage Masters? Or will Kirin take control of not just the Brewery, but the team as well?

The new PBA season is barely three weeks old, but Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio is already in midseason form when it comes to his soundbites. Check them out:

“We must be prepared for an all-out effort by Coke. They are shooting for their first win and they will surely go flat-out. Our energies must be greater and our minds clearer.”

October 29, 2009

“(Ginebra) used their overwhelming advantage in quickness against the talented and taller Beemen. They played with tremendous grit and determination. They get their energy once they score on fastbreaks, and the solution to that is that we have to take high percentage shots.”

October 18, 2009

“The return of Caguioa has given them an added boost in the energy department. He was really the spark and he must be contained.”

October 18, 2009

“It’s always nice to win the first game. At least for this particular game, we were witnesses to a game where the wheeling and dealing in the off-season worked. Yes, we want to start on the right foot, but it takes so many games to reach the destination where we want to be in. This is pretty much a good indicator of the things to come (for us) in the conference.”

October 11, 2009

“Facing Burger King is always a good test. They will surely be a tough nut to crack despite the departure of Arwind Santos. They will rely on quickness, roughness and aggressiveness – all the characteristics of a Yeng Guiao team.”

October 10, 2009

It’s like he’s already auditioning for a television analyst job if he gets fired for his team underachieving again this season. Oh, who am I kidding? The guy is bulletproof. He could take a dump on Danding Cojuangco’s pizza and still not get fired.