San Miguel Corp. eyes another acquisition

San Miguel Corp. (SMC), the Philippines’ largest food and beverage company, is in negotiations to buy another Asian energy company which is said to have annual revenues in excess of US$6 billion, according to San Miguel President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon Ang. Last August, ExxonMobil agreed to sell its entire 65% stake in Esso Malaysia to SMC, a deal which gave it control over an 88,000 barrel-a-day refinery and a chain of gasoline stations. SMC also agreed to purchase ExxonMobil Malaysia Sdn. and ExxonMobil Borneo Sdn. The deal was worth a total of US$610 million. But the Malaysian plantations, engineering and financial services group, Boustead Holdings Bhd., said it is still interested in buying all of ExxonMobil Corp.’s assets in Malaysia if the deal with San Miguel does not push through. (December 23, 2011)