Tobacco and beer tycoon Lucio Tan has long been resigned to giving up ailing Philippine Airlines to a new set of investors. Over a month ago at the Manila Golf & Country Club in Makati City, this writer chanced upon the magnate as he was about to leave the exclusive golf course.
When asked about his plans and rumors on the sale of PAL to both local and foreign investors, Tan could only mutter a few words about the airline’s financial problems. He did admit that PAL needed fresh capital to shore up its finances. “It’s bankrupt,” Tan told this writer.
Conglomerate San Miguel Corp., meanwhile, confirmed that it was in talks with Tan to invest in PAL. San Miguel said in a stock exchange disclosure Wednesday that it had been invited by Tan “to participate and assist in the refleeting and modernization of Philippine Airlines.”
Ramon Ang, president and chief executive of San Miguel, on September 20 was coy about the conglomerate’s intentions when he talked briefly with business reporters. Ang said he was a close friend of Tan, consulting with the Tan family in his personal capacity.
He denied at that time that San Miguel was involved in the discussions. “We are reviewing all opportunity. SMC is not looking at it, it’s me personally who is looking at it,” Ang said. “I heard there are some famous foreign airlines interested in joining [and] supporting him [and] tallking directly to him [Tan]. If I can help facilitate [the entry of new investors], why not?”
MVP option dims
Ang’s friendship with Tan could thwart the attempt of telecom czar Manuel V. Pangilinan, or MVP, to buy into PAL. MVP actually started the search for the top executive who will steer PAL, his next acquisition target.
MVP, as earlier written in this column, had narrowed his options to individual chief executive officers presently running the operations of companies under the fold of the PLDT/Smart/Metro Pacific group.
The candidates for the plum PAL job included Jose Ma. Lim of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Napoleon Nazareno of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Smart Communications Inc., Ricky Vargas of Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Ramoncito Fernandez of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.
MVP’s overtures were supported by the formation of a new aviation company in September. PLDT and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. created Pacific Global One Aviation Inc. with an initial capital of P400 million. Other incorporators of Pacific Global One are Meralco Powergen Corp. and Metro Pacific Tollways, both affiliated with MVP.
But with San Miguel finally making its intentions on PAL clear, MVP and his group may try a more aggressive tack to get PAL and a much better offer to convince Tan.
Flaminiano back to NutriAsia
Condiments king Joselito “Butch” Campos Jr. has recalled Angie Flaminiano from her post as chief marketing officer of Del Monte Philippines Inc. and named her the new president of the NutriAsia group. Angie, who was formerly marketing head of NutriAsia Food Inc. and regional brand manager of Procter & Gamble, is replacing Noel Lorenzana.
Lorenzana, who was also chief operating officer of NutriAsia, has joined Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. as head of the wireless consumer division of Smart Communications Inc. Lorenzana was former chairman and managing director of Unilever Malaysia and Singapore.
Angie, meanwhile, has over 20 years of brand management and marketing experience, starting with Procter & Gamble. She is credited for steering the brands of Southeast Asia Food Inc., the leading condiments company in the Philippines under the wings of NutriAsia, to the top two market positions. She was also responsible for revitalizing the Del Monte brand in the Philippines.
A cum laude graduate from the University of the Philippines, Flaminiano is a certified public accountant. Her name rings a bell because she is married to a son of lawyer Jose Flaminiano, now the legal counselor of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
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