San Miguel pushes back beer IPO, listing in May

MANILA, March 28 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian food giant San Miguel Corp (SMC.PS) said it has pushed back its planned $576 million beer unit IPO -- the country's largest -- by three weeks, with listing of shares tentatively set for May 12.

San Miguel earlier this month trimmed its domestic beer unit's planned IPO by around 6 percent to $576 million amid weak financial markets.

The company said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it would hold a domestic roadshow for San Miguel Brewery Inc's IPO on April 12 and go on an overseas roadshow on April 15.

It will set the IPO price -- currently ranging at between 8 pesos (19 US cents) and 15.40 pesos a share, down from a previously planned 9.50 to 16.30 peso range -- on April 24 before opening the offer on April 28.

The company earlier said it would set the IPO price on April 8, with listing to follow on April 22.

San Miguel gave no reason for the delay in the IPO. Most of the San Miguel Brewery proceeds will go to the parent group and help fund the company's planned move into heavy industry.

Earlier this year, Cebu Pacific, the top Philippines budget airline, shelved plans for a $309 million IPO due to market uncertainty. The only Philippine listing this year was by the local bottler for Pepsi-Cola (PIP.PS), which fell by nearly a fifth on its debut last month.

The local stock index .PSI has lost 18 percent this year, the weakest Southeast Asian performer after Vietnam, as investors shy away from emerging market assets amid fears of a U.S. recession and the credit crunch in capital markets.

Both San Miguel A shares, open only to local investors, and its B stock, open to all, were unchanged on Friday as the main index .PSI gained 1 percent.

($1=41.8 pesos) (Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco; Editing by Quentin Bryar)