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FOOD and
beverage giant San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has completed the
sale of its premium Tasmanian brewer J. Boag & Son to
Lion Nathan Ltd.
The
deal, valued at A$325 million, was announced last
November.
Flagship
product James Boag’s Premium Lager is Australia’s second
largest selling premium beer. Other Boag brands include
James Boag’s Premium Light, Boag’s St. George, Boag’s
Classic Blonde, Boag’s Draught and Boag’s Strongarm.
With
annual sales revenue of A$61 million in 1999—prior to
SMC’s acquisition—the company has grown revenue to A$92
million in 2006.
The sale
of Boag’s was done along with the disposal of SMC’s
Australian dairy and juice manufacturer National Foods.
“Proceeds from this and other previously announced
divestitures could be used for a number of alternatives
like SMC’s entry into new businesses,” said vice
chairman Ramon S. Ang in a previous statement.
J.Boag
was SMC’s first major acquisition under the management
of Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. in 2000. SMC acquired it for
A$96 million.
“While
Boag’s is an excellent business with strong brands, SMC
is in a process of redefining itself and injecting into
our operations a higher return-on-investment focused
discipline. We are reassessing our priorities and
reshaping our portfolio to include new businesses that
we feel will give us higher margin growth in the near-
and medium-term,” Ang added.
Meanwhile, the sale of J.Boag and National Foods will
generate cash proceeds of A$1.22 billion ($1.1 billion)
for SMC, more than enough to support its venture into
new businesses, including power and mining projects.
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