San Miguel eyes $800 mln from packaging IPO, beer unit

MANILA, May 13 (Reuters) - San Miguel Corp (SMC.PS) wants to raise $800 million from the sale of its overseas beer operations and a public offering of up to 14 percent of its packaging unit, its president said on Wednesday.

The Philippine conglomerate wants to raise about $100 million from a public offering of a 10-14 percent stake in the packaging arm, San Miguel Packaging Group, in late 2009 or early 2010.

The stake sale was originally planned for as early as last year before being shelved due to weak market conditions.

"If we can do it this year, then good," Ramon Ang, San Miguel president, told reporters. "If not, then we'll do it early next year."

Nihon Yamamura Glass (5210.T), a Japanese maker of glass bottles and plastic containers, holds a 35 percent stake in the packaging unit which it bought for $130 million in January 2008.

Ang also said the parent company wants to conclude the sale of its stake in its international beer business worth about $600-700 million to flagship subsidiary San Miguel Brewery (SMB.PS) this year.

San Miguel has previously announced plans to sell the beer operations stake but had not given an estimated price.

"San Miguel Brewery has a strong cash flow, which means they can handle bank loans, if needed, to fund the acquisition," Ang said.

Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings (2503.T) holds 48.3 percent in San Miguel Brewery.

The Philippine brewer, which sells nine of 10 beers sold in the country, raised 38.8 billion peso ($823 million) in March in Manila's largest corporate bond offer to fund its purchase of domestic beer brands and related assets from its parent.

San Miguel, which is moving away from its traditional food and drinks businesses, will be using proceeds from the asset sales to fund its entry into heavy industry and pay down debt.

The company bought 27 percent of Manila Electric Co (MER.PS) for over $600 million in October. The group has since increased that stake to about 43 percent.

San Miguel also holds an exclusive option to buy a 50.1 percent stake in Philippine refiner Petron Corp (PCOR.PS) from British investment firm Ashmore Group (ASHM.L). It has until December 2010 to exercise that option.

The company has previously said it was interested in buying a coal-fired power plant in the Philippines and venture into telecommunications under a deal with Qatar Telecom QTEL.QA. It also submitted an unsolicited proposal to the government to develop a water dam east of the capital worth $1.5-2 billion. ($1=47.15 Philippine Peso) (Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco; Editing by Nathan Layne)