PH enjoys more FDI in June on Dutch firm’s buyout of Alaska Milk

MANILA – The Philippines enjoyed net inflows of foreign direct investment last June on the back of a Dutch company’s takeover of Alaska Milk Corp.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said net inflows of FDI reached $73 million this year, or 16 percent higher than the $63 million in June last year.

The June net inflows brought the six-month total to $917 million, or 10.6 percent more than the $829 million in the same period a year ago.

By type of investment, equity capital in June surged nearly fourfold from $20 million last year to $78 million this year because of a foreign company’s acquisition of shares in a local manufacturer, the BSP said.

Bulk of investments last June came from the Netherlands, the US, Japan, Germany and Singapore, and was injected into the manufacturing, real estate, mining and quarrying, wholesale and retail trade, and accommodation and food services sectors.

Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. last June raised its ownership in Alaska Milk to 97.7 percent following the completion of a tender offer for shares held by minority stockholders.

The Dutch dairy giant acquired nearly 93 percent of Alaska Milk’s publicly traded shares at a price of P24 apiece when the tender offer ended on June 6. This followed FrieslandCampina’s acquisition of the controlling stake of the Uytengsu family, the founders and controlling shareholders of the local milk maker. –Arnold S. Tenorio, InterAksyon.com