Cosco acquires top LPG supplier

osco apital nc. the in estment ehicle o Lucio and usan o is enturing into the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) usiness with the acquisition o the country’s top LPG supplier.

The listed holding firm wants to complement the new usiness with a downstream retail networ catering to end users the company said yesterday.

In a regulatory filing, Cosco Capital said it will acquire 9 percent of the capital stock of market leader Liquiga Philippines Inc., with PR Ga Inc. retaining a 1 -percent stake. The deal, whose transaction value was not disclosed, will be completed in the next few days.

“The acquisition will mark Cosco Capital’s entry into the LPG business with a strong initial presence in the upstream business,” the holding firm said.

Liquiga is the largest LPG supplier in the country, accounting for percent of the total market volume. It is also the biggest seller of LPG in Lu on, the site of its storage facilities.

More than percent of the country’s total LPG imports are unloaded, stored, and sold from Liquiga ’s storage tanks in Mariveles, Bataan with a capacity of 12,5 metric tons, making it the largest in the Philippines.

It is the only supplier capable of receiving both refrigerated and pressuri ed LPG cargo, Cosco Capital said.

Moving forward, Cosco Capital plans to make use of its retail expertise to enhance the business of Liquiga .

“Cosco Capital envisions a move towards the downstream retail business in the near future via either merger and acquisition of existing re-fillers or establishing its own re-filling network, and eventually, retailing LPG directly to the wider household end-user market,” the company said.

To date, Liquiga is mainly into the wholesaling portion of the market, with 5 percent of its traded volume going to refillers and distributors. The remaining 15 percent is sold to commercial end-users like restaurants, hotels, fast food outlets, hospitals, supermarkets and autogas stations.

Liquiga , which was set up in 1995, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the etherlands’ SHV Gas, one of the largest dedicated global LPG distributors operating in almost countries.

For its part, Cosco Capital is into supermarkets (Puregold Price Club Inc.), liquor importation (Premier Wine & Spirits Inc.), commercial real estate and oil storage and oil exploration activities.

Cosco Capital claims to be the country’s leading importer of liquor with exclusive distribution rights for some of the world’s top brands like Cuervo, Jim Beam, Fundador, Absolut Vodka, Johnny Walker, Chivas Regal and Alfonso.

Pro- forma net income of Cosco Capital hit P5. billion last year, up percent from P2.9 billion a year ago while pro- forma net income attributable to equityholders of the parent firm surged 12 percent to P . billion from P1.5 billion.

Last year, the Co family infused a 51-percent stake in country’s second largest grocery chain Puregold Price Club Inc. and a portfolio of other companies into Cosco Capital, formerly Alcorn Gold Resources Corp.