Manila's San Miguel prices pref shares at 25 pct premium

MANILA, June 15 (Reuters) - Philippine food-to-power conglomerate San Miguel Corp (SMC.PS) (SMCB.PS) said on Monday it has priced its preferred shares at a 25 percent premium over its common shares.

San Miguel, which has moved into power distribution and oil refining from its core food and drinks business to feed future growth, last month approved a plan to allow shareholders to swap their common shares with preferred shares to ease concerns about the group's entry into regulated sectors. [ID:nMAN294018]

The company said the new class of preferreds, called Series 1 preferred shares, will be issued at 75 pesos ($1.56) per share and with a dividend rate of 8 percent per annum.

The price represents a 25 percent premium over the closing prices of San Miguel A and B shares on Monday.

The A-shares, exclusive to Filipinos, rose 7.1 percent to 60 pesos and the B-shares, open to all, jumped 6.2 percent, also to 60 pesos. The main index .PSI gained 0.54 percent.

Shareholders are to get one preferred share for every common share held. The preferreds are perpetual, cumulative and non-voting.

San Miguel, Southeast Asia's biggest food and beverage group, bought a 27 percent stake in power retailer Manila Electric Co (MER.PS) last year and has an option to buy a majority interest in oil refiner Petron Corp (PCOR.PS).

($1 = 48.20 pesos) (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)