Biz Buzz: Dennis Uy on a roll
For many Filipino taipans and tycoons, December is a time for taking stock of their activities for the year behind them, and for resting before forging ahead in the new year. As such, big business deals are rare during the holiday season.
But don’t tell that to the upand-coming-tycoon-in-a-hurry
Dennis Uy who, according to our sources, has sealed another big business deal.
Biz Buzz heard that the Davao-based businessman had sealed the deal to takeover the Philippine operations of Kia Motors. This business was previously part of the empire of businessman/politician Jose
“Pepito” Alvarez, under his Columbian Autocar Corp., the exclusive importer, assembler and distributor of Kia vehicles in the country.
Word on the street is that Alvarez is no longer interested in the automobile industry (except perhaps as an end user) which explains his divestment from the Kia business, as well as the upscale BMW Philippine distributorship which went to San Miguel Corp. led by Ramon Ang.
In any case, our sources tell us that Uy—whohas been amassing a broad portfolio of companies across a range of industries and sectors —edged out another businessman who was also interested in the Kia business.
Of course, those who are familiar with the vehicles of the brand know that the South Korean automaker is no longer associated with cheap, low quality automobiles like the Kia Pride that was introduced in the Philippines as “the people’s car” in the 1990s.
It’s not quite a luxury brand either, but it has a wide range of mid-range products that appeal increasingly to the valueconscious and hip crowd.
There’s no word yet on exactly how much will be paid for Kia Philippines by the man behind Phoenix Petroleum, 2GO, Chelsea Logistics, Udenna, Global Gateway Logistics City, H2O Ventures, Family Mart... whew.... and a few more that we will tell you about in the coming weeks.
One thing is for certain though: Money is no object for Uy and—if whispers are to be believed—some of his silent partners who helping him consummate all these cash-intensive deals.
And another thing is certain: This is not the last deal the empire-builder-in-a-rush will seal. Abangan! —DAXIM L. LUCAS
‘It’ girl and IT exec
Word is circulating in high society and business circles that this certain celebrity stylist — once the apple of the eye of a former President (not just a company president, but the President of the Republic of the Philippines)—recently gave birth to a baby boy in Los Angeles, California.
The immediate question that follows, of course, is “Who’s the dad?”
Well, Biz Buzz learned that the father of the child is a young local executive who is the co-founder and number two guy in a publicly listed technology firm.
If those clues aren’t enough, this man is also known for his athletic inclinations and is married, or maybe “was” because he’s been separated form his spouse for some time now (and word on the street is that the marital troubles began soon after the company’s success became apparent around the time of its initial public offering).
Anyway, this young executive—whom we shall call “RR” was unable to attend a recent wedding of his current partner’s famous “barkada” in the southern hemisphere precisely because he had to attend to a date with the stock in LA.
Will they go public with this? Probably. It’s difficult not to come clean in this day and age of rapid information dissemination. —DAXIM L. LUCAS
Seaoil-Caltex tie-up
Seaoil Philippines, led by the rags-to-riches Yu family, is positioning to be a bigger player in the petroleum industry by teaming up with a foreign strategic partner, Caltex Australia.
Under the deal, Caltex Australia will inject fresh capital into Seaoil in exchange for a 20- percent stake—reminiscent of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi’s buy-in deal that catapulted Security Bank into the bigger league. The stake was acquired for A$115 million (P4.42 billion), valuing 100 percent of Seaoil at P22.1 billion.
Caltex Australia will also provide technical and operational expertise to help accelerate growth of Seaoil capabilities, market reach and penetration, including doubling of its retail network and storage capacity over the next five years.
American investment banking giant J.P. Morgan served as sole financial advisor to Seaoil, one of the country’s largest independent players.
How will it affect the dynamics with Caltex Philippines? Interesting to find out. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA
PSE Bull Run 2018
Long before the running craze in town (and even preceding the bull market), the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has been holding its Bull Run at the start of every year as part of ini- tiatives to drum up interest in the stock market. On the race day, the PSE has a booth where participants can sign up for its free Stock Market 101 seminar.
The 13th edition of the PSE Bull Run will happen in BGC on Jan. 14, 2018. This is among the activities lined up by the PSE, which is finally moving to its new home in BGC next year, for its 25th anniversary.
“We would like our investors and the general public to kick off 2018 by giving importance to both their financial as well as physical wellbeing. We hope that participants of the PSE Bull Run will benefit from a good run and develop interest in stock investing,” PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon.
The 2018 Bull Run will feature a 25-kilometer race division. Other categories are 21K, 10K and 5K. Runners can also participate in the 25K the team category competition, which will be open to groups with a minimum of 10 paying runners.
“We take pride in being one of the longest running runs in the country. We hope that we will continue to get the support of running and fitness enthusiasts, retail investors and the general public for this edition of the PSE Bull Run,” Monzon added.
Those who are interested to join the 2018 PSE Bull Run may register online at www.runrio.com or register at the PSE Ayala and Ortigas trading floors and select Toby’s Sports branches. —DORIS DUMLAOABADILLA INQ