Philippine food conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is reportedly hot on the trail for a stake in Indonesian coal and energy company Adaro Energy for as much as $500 million.
The potential deal falls into the Manila-based company's ambitious push to expand outside of its traditional businesses into infrastructure assets at home and abroad. Part of San Miguel's M&A team has been Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS). The company advised San Miguel on its purchase of 27% of utility Manila Electric Co. in 2008, a planned telecommunications venture and a pending $675 million purchase of a majority stake of oil refiner Petron Corp., according to Reuters. So, now it may come as no surprise that Goldman and San Miguel are possibly doing a deal again, but this time the financial holding company could be one of the sellers.
Goldman is part of a consortium that includes Farallon Capital Management LLC, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and tycoon Robert Kuok, who will be selling their collective 17% stake in the Indonesian coal company. San Miguel president Ramon Ang told Reuters his company is in talks with Goldman for Adaro. Talk about knowing your seller: The deal is far from being sealed but shows the tangled web of relationships and long reach Goldman has around the world. - Gerald Magpily
See Reuters article
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