Philippines' APEC Board Approves Acquisition Of Liquor Maker

MANILA: The Philippines' Asian Pacific Equity Corp.(APEC) said its board of directors approved recently the acquisition of Twin Ace Holdings Corp., maker of the popular local brand of rum, Tanduay. APEC said the company would issue 3 billion new shares (worth about US$78 million) as payment to Tangent Holdings Corp., the sole shareholder of Twin Ace. Tangent currently owns about 63% of APEC. The board also approved the change in the company's name to Tanduay Holdings Inc. The purchase of Twin Ace came just days after Lucio Tan, owner of the Tanduay rum brand, was named chairman of APEC. To accommodate the issue of new shares, APEC will increase its capital stock to 5 billion pesos (US$129.5 million) from 1 billion pesos with a par value of 1.0 peso per share. APEC, formerly Manila Wine Merchants Inc., is a holding firm involved in the aluminum business and the trading and distribution of wines and spirits.