First Pacific keen on Luisita sugar mill?

MANILA, Philippines – Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. is interested in acquiring the sugar mill inside Hacienda Luisita, the sugar estate owned by the family of President Benigno Aquino III in Tarlac province.

The food unit of First Pacific, PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk, is keen on the sugar milling business, but there are no talks between the parties yet, according to businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs First Pacific.

(Ed’s note: We earlier reported First Pacific is interested in the Hacienda Luisita property. The company is only looking at the sugar mill. We regret the error.)

Pangilinan made the disclosure last October 25 on the sidelines of the 3rd quarter financial briefing of Manila Electric Company (Meralco), a power giant where First Pacific also has a majority stake in via its Philippine subsidiaries.

“We are interested in sugar in general because Indofood is in sugar plantation and sugar milling and refining,” said Pangilinan.

When pressed if plans to acquire Hacienda Luisita’s mill have been finalized, Pangilinan replied, “I think it’s a general interest. Nothing has been finalized by anybody.”

Almost 3 decades since the agrarian reform law was passed, the Cojuangco clan, President Aquino’s relatives on his mother’s side, has successfully dodged government efforts to place the estate under the reform program. Aquino sold his shares in the estate in 2010. 

Some 4,000 hectares of the 6,000-hectare sugar estate are now being distributed among farmers. (READ: Hacienda Luisita land distribution begins)

Indofood is controlled by the Salim family of Indonesia and a major plantation operator in palm oil, sugar, rubber, coffee and cacao. It is engaged in oil palm cultivation and milling, as well as the production and marketing of branded cooking oils, margarine and shortening.

Indofood has been eyeing parcels of land to lease and develop in the Philippines. Pangilinan said in May that talks with Philippine agriculture officials and Indofood have been focused on large-scale commercial farming.

In June, a team from First Pacific personally visited potential plantations in Davao Oriental, but militant farmers opposed the company’s plan to establish a 30,000-hectare palm-oil plantation. The farmers were wary of “land-grabbing” schemes.

PT Indofood and Meralco are among the units controlled by First Pacific, which is listed in Hong Kong. Majority of the assets of the conglomerate are based in the Philippines, including Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation and Philex Mining Corporation. – Rappler.com