San Miguel president and CEO Ramon Ang
Billionaire Ramon Ang is investing 10.9 billion pesos ($194 million) to increase his stake in Top Frontier Investment Holdings, the parent company of San Miguel Corp., one of the Philippines’ oldest conglomerates with interests in food, beverages and infrastructure.
Ang, through his Far East Holdings Inc, is buying 45 million shares in Top Frontier for 241.42 pesos apiece, more than double the stock’s closing price on Thursday, before the planned share purchase was disclosed in a regulatory filing the next day. The stock rose 10.8 % to 133 pesos in morning trading in Manila, heading for a third day of gains.
The share purchase will boost Ang’s stake in Top Frontier to about 35% from 26% previously, and make him the second-largest shareholder in the company next to fellow billionaire Inigo Zobel.
Ang’s investment was approved by Top Frontier’s board after an independent valuation conducted by FTI Consulting showed that the company’s shares were undervalued and could be worth as much as 286.70 pesos each. Besides being the biggest shareholder of San Miguel, with a 66% stake, Top Frontier also has interests in mining, according to the company’s website.
The acquisition comes after Ang sold his controlling stake in Eagle Cement to San Miguel in October for 97 billion pesos, consolidating his business interests amid a construction boom in the country and as the food-to-energy conglomerate accelerates infrastructure projects including a mega international airport project, toll roads and power plants.
Ang—who acquired most of his San Miguel shares from the late tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. in 2012—is the president and CEO of the conglomerate. He transformed the company from a brewer and food manufacturer into one of the country’s most diversified businesses with interests in real estate, oil refining, power generation and infrastructure. He has a net worth of $3.3 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time data.