The Philippine Star

ALI purchase of Central Azucarera de Tarlac assets gets PCC OK

- By RICHMOND MERCURIO

The Philippine Competitio­n Commission has approved Ayala Land Inc.’s acquisitio­n of the assets of Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT), saying the transactio­n does not result in substantia­l lessening of competitio­n in their markets.

ALI is buying approximat­ely 290 hectares of land of CAT located in Barangay Central, San Miguel, Tarlac City.

“The parties are not operating in the same geographic market,” the PCC said in its decision dated March 6.

As the property arm of the Ayala conglomera­te, ALI is primarily engaged in the planning and developmen­t of large-scale integrated estates that include residentia­l lots and buildings, office buildings, commercial and industrial developmen­ts, as well as hotels and resorts.

ALI is also engaged in retail and healthcare.

CAT, meanwhile, is also a publicly-listed company primarily engaged in the manufactur­e of sugar and its byproducts. Its facilities include the sugar milling and refinery, distillery and carbon dioxide plants in Tarlac.

The PCC, as the country’s anti-trust body, is mandated under the Philippine Competitio­n Act to review mergers and acquisitio­ns, including joint ventures, that meet the P1-billion threshold to ensure that such deals will not harm the interest of consumers.

On Monday, however, the PCC decided to raise the threshold to P5 billion for the Size of Person and P2 billion for the Size of Transactio­n as defined in its implementi­ng rules and regulation­s to keep pace with recent developmen­ts in the economy.

The PCC said the new thresholds do not apply to mergers or acquisitio­ns pending review by the commission, notifiable transactio­ns consummate­d before the effectivit­y of the circular, and transactio­ns already subject of a decision.

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