San Miguel Corp is looking for business opportunities in Australia and Taiwan as it moves to beef up regional business, Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage group confirmed on February 17. San Miguel, with plants in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Australia and Vietnam beside its home market, has said it wants to expand in as many as seven Asian countries after raising around $540 million from the sale of a 15 percent stake to Japanese beer maker Kirin Brewery Co Ltd late in 2001.

San Miguel dominates the beer market in the Philippines with a share of about 90 percent, and is also the leading player in the liquor, soft drinks and processed meats markets. "We confirm that the company is scouting for investment opportunities in Australia and Taiwan this year in line with its new strategy to build a stronger regional presence," the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The firm's B shares, open to foreign and local investors, closed up 50 centavos on Monday at 65.0 pesos. The A-shares, open to locals only, also rose 50 centavos to end at 57.5 pesos. The main index ended up 0.1 percent. ($1=54 pesos)

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