San Miguel execs named to Petron board, management

MANILA, Philippines - Representatives of food and beverage firm San Miguel Corp. have been elected to the board of Petron Corp. in the wake of the former’s moving to take control of the country’s largest oil company. Petron, in a disclosure to the stock exchange, announced a management and board revamp in line with San Miguel’s having signed an option agreement with the refiner’s majority shareholder, UK investment fund Ashmore Group. San Miguel last month said it was looking to purchase up to 50.1% of Petron. This week, it said it was looking to consummate the deal by buying Ashmore unit SEA Refinery Corp. which holds the Petron stake. With the revamp, San Miguel President Ramon S. Ang is the new Petron chairman, replacing Nicasio I. Alcantara who will still serve as Petron director. Mr. Ang also replaced newspaper columnist Carmen N. Pedrosa in the board. San Miguel Chairman Eduardo M. Cojuangco, Jr. also joined the Petron board, replacing Ashmore representative Craig Webster, while San Miguel board member Estelito P. Mendoza replaced Petron director Michael T. Defensor. The board also elected Angelico T. Salud as independent director. Petron President Eric O. Recto will remain in his post while San Miguel Pure Foods Company Inc. Vice-President Emmanuel E. Eraña will become Petron chief finance officer. San Miguel Corporate Technical Services Vice-President Lubin B. Nepomuceno was named Petron’s general manager. In a separate disclosure, San Miguel also confirmed reports that it would pay Ashmore $10 million to maintain its option to purchase SEA Refinery. San Miguel has been announcing major diversification initiatives, starting with the purchase of a 27% stake in Manila Electric Co. last October for P26 billion. At the same time that it inked the option with Ashmore, it bared a joint venture with state-owned Qatar Telecom to tap the local telecommunication market. Petron is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines. Its 180,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery supplies nearly 40% of the country’s needs. - BusinessWorld