PMEA Blog

MANILA, Philippines - Conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. is looking to acquire gold and coal assets in Indonesia, managing director and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said last week.

The move comes more than a year after First Pacific effectively gained control of Philex Mining Corp., the Philippines’ biggest gold producer. If successful, it could also be First Pacific’s next major acquisition outside the Philippines.

The company, controlled by Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim, is already the single-biggest shareholder of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

First Pacific also owns a near-majority stake in the country’s largest electricity retailer Manila Electric Co., which is putting up a 1,500-megawatt power generation portfolio that will include coal-powered facilities through 2016.

“We are looking [at mining acquisitions] in Indonesia,” Pangilinan told reporters in a chance interview last week. He said his group is looking at “both” coal and gold prospects, without providing additional details.

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