It was reported that San Miguel, the biggest food/drinks group in SE Asia, has sold a 35% stake in its packaging unit to Japan's Nihon Yamamura Glass for US$ 130M. San Miguel said 31 Jan/08 that the total sale price was made of $107M for a share in the domestic packaging business & US$ 23.4M for a share in international operations. The company is said to be diversifying into heavy industry in the Philippines. Nihon Yamamura Glass is a long-standing joint venture partner of San Miguel in the Philippines, where they operate the country's largest glass plant as well as a glass plant in Vietnam. "This is a significant investment that creates a strong foundation for our joint ambition to become a leading packaging business in Asia, providing us access to countries in the region where San Miguel already has presence", Koji Yamamura President of Nihon, said in a statement. San Miguel has been disposing of businesses and is planning to list its flagship domestic beer operation in 2008 to raise funds for a drive into power, mining, infrastructure and real estate at home. In 2007, it sold its erstwhile flagship overseas business, Australian dairy and juice manufacturer National Foods, to Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings for USD 2.6 billion.
