-
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is seeking likely acquisitions in the country’s P20-billion cold chain industry to support its nascent agribusiness portfolio
-
As the infrastructure giant’s agribusiness venture grows, it requires cold storage facilities, which its logistics arm’s warehouses lack
-
Armed with about P8 billion fund for agribusiness acquisitions this year, Metro Pacific says it will continue to expand aggressively in agriculture
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is on the lookout for likely acquisitions in the country’s P20-billion cold chain industry as it grows its nascent agribusiness portfolio and restarts its logistics operation.
June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla, Metro Pacific chief finance officer, told a media conference last week that the Manny Pangilinan-led corporation is keen to wade into cold chain operation as a complement of the logistics unit to fit into its agriculture and food security business plan.
The logistics arm had earlier invested in large-scale warehousing but this did not prosper. As the infrastructure giant’s agribusiness venture grows, it requires cold storage facilities – temperature-controlled warehouses that will keep perishable products like food fresh for long periods.
“For agriculture, you need cold storage, which we did not have before. It was really just the warehousing business. We are looking at certain cold storage businesses,” Revilla said.
Even long before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., concurrently the secretary of agriculture, cited the need to set up more cold storage facilities to stabilize onion supply and prices, private companies had already begun building a cold chain infrastructure across the country.
AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. is building two cold storage facilities in Pampanga and Batangas to double its capacity in 2023. The Pampanga cold storage will be a key part of the planned agro-industrial hub in the area while the Batangas storage will cater to the need for more facilities in Southern Luzon.
Other industry players have also broken ground for similar projects, such as First Atkins Holdings Corp., which is building a P1-billion cold storage in the Cavite Technopark in Naic City. It will be Frist Atkins’ sixth cold storage and the largest such facility for perishable goods in Southern Luzon, the company said.
In Cagayan de Oro City, AC Logistics Holdings Corp. and Glacier Megafridge Inc. (GMI) have set up a joint venture cold storage facility in Tablon to service the needs of local and multinational companies in Northern Mindanao.
The Philippines’ cold chain industry is estimated by Board of Investments to be worth as much as $417 million this year. But cold chain operators are fragmented, with no single player dominating the market.
The largest firm is Jentec Cold Storage, with a 19% market share, followed by Glacier Megafridge with 13%, Ken Research’s 2020 data show. The next five largest players have less than 10% of the market.
Juan Victor Hernandez, chief executive of Metro Pacific Agro Ventures Inc., said investments in cold storage might involve acquisitions.
“While we produce the best [food] products out there, it’s important we are able to distribute to the Filipino consumer. It ties in with agriculture,” said Hernandez, who also heads the logistics division.
Metro Pacific says that, with about P8 billion fund for agribusiness acquisitions this year, it will continue to expand aggressively in agriculture.
Among its assets are a controlling stake in Carmen’s Best dairy group bought from the Magsaysay family, two ventures with Israel’s LR Group to establish modern dairy and vegetable farms in the Philippines, and a 34.7% stake in listed coconut processing and exports firm Axelum Resources Corp..
On Feb. 20, Metro Pacific and LR broke ground for what they claim to be the country’s biggest greenhouse in Bulacan will be capable of producing an annual 1,600 metric tons of vegetables by 2024.
Last December, the group started erecting a P2-billion modern dairy farm in Laguna with 6 million liters of milk output by 2026.
