MANILA, Sept 21, 2010 (AFP) – San Miguel Corp. said Tuesday it is looking outside its Philippine base for substantial investments in coal, oil and natural gas as part of its move beyond its brewing roots.
"We confirm that the company is conducting an ongoing evaluation of the viability of investing in coal mines, which have potential mineral reserves of 500 million tonnes and oil and natural gas fields," it told the local bourse.
All three prospects are located abroad, it told the Philippine Stock Exchange in a disclosure, which did not name the countries or the prospects.
San Miguel, one of the Philippines' biggest companies, announced in July that it would sell about 1.63 billion dollars' worth of shares to fund new investments.
San Miguel is Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage outfit and is known particularly for its beer, but it has moved aggressively into heavy industries in recent years.
This has included investments in mining, power generation and distribution, oil refining and road-building.
