Former Finance executive is new Petron president

MANILA, Philippines - The new majority owners of Petron Corp. have named their man to head the country’s largest oil refiner. Replacing Kamal M. Al-Yahya as president is Eric O. Recto, a former Finance undersecretary who was appointed a Petron director in July by UK investment firm Ashmore Group. Mr. Al-Yahya was a representative of Saudi Aramco, which sold its 40% stake in the oil firm to Ashmore earlier this year for $550 million. The deal, concluded by Ashmore unit SEA Refinery Holdings BV, was followed by a tender offer where Ashmore raised its stake to 50.57%. Mr. Recto is currently president and chief executive officer of Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. as well as president of ISM Communications Corp., ETPI’s parent company. Mr. Recto is also currently vice-chairman of the boards of Philweb Corp. and Alphaland Corp., and holds directorships in a number of other firms including Philippine National Bank. At the Finance department, Mr. Recto was in charge of the International Finance Group and the Privatization Office from 2002-2005. Petron said Nicasio I. Alcantara would remain as chairman and chief executive officer. The government earlier this week put a price tag of P25.7 billion for its own 40% stake in the refiner, giving Ashmore 60 days to decide on the offer. - BusinessWorld