The Philippines: San Miguel Corp. may delist beer business from the Philippine Stock Exchange by the end of this year

Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp. will voluntarily delist units that are non-compliant with the minimum public ownership rule by the end of the year, Dow Jones Newswires reported on August, 28.

San Miguel President Ramon Ang made the comment to reporters regarding San Miguel Brewery, San Miguel Properties, Inc. and San Miguel Pure Foods Co., each of which has a public ownership level of less than 1%.

The Philippine Stock Exchange has said 27 listed firms are yet to meet the minimum 10% public ownership requirement. These companies have until the end of the year to comply or risk being delisted. Companies delisted by the stock exchange can't re-list until after five years from delisting, removing a source of funding for firms.

"We will still try to sell shares but if the economic situation does not improve then we can't do anything but to delist if the stock exchange won't extend the deadline," Mr. Ang told reporters after San Miguel's affiliate Philippine Airlines signed a deal to buy 54 aircraft from Airbus.

Based on current market capitalization, San Miguel Brewery, Pure Foods and San Miguel Properties together will need to sell shares worth a total of 75.7 billion Philippine pesos ($1.8 billion) to attain the minimum public ownership level.

29 August, 2012