Philippine food giant Universal Robina Corp said Wednesday it would buy Snack Brands Australia for US $460 million, the latest big deal in a global shopping spree by Filipino firms reflecting the nation's economic rise. URC said it had sealed an agreement to buy the Australian company - maker of popular local brands including Kettles, Thins, CC's and Cheezels - for Aus$600 million ($460 million) as part of its ambitions to expand throughout the Asia-Pacific.
"With this acquisition, URC plans to create a wider footprint in Oceania with (Snack Brands) providing a solid anchor in the highly competitive Australian... market," chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei said in the statement. Snack Brands was described in the statement as the second largest producer of salty snacks in Australia, and on its website said it made 200 million packets a year. URC is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the Philippines and has a market capitalisation of US $9 billion.
It already has a large presence in Southeast Asian markets and in 2014 it bought 150-year-old New Zealand snack company Griffin's for NZ$700 million (US $610 million). Fuelled by one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, a host of cashed-up Filipino companies have in recent years embarked on global expansion plans that analysts say are the biggest ever seen from the Philippines. Bargain prices in struggling economies abroad and rock-bottom borrowing rates have fuelled the acquisitions, according to analysts. In 2015, local instant noodle firm Monde Nissin announced it had bought British meat substitute manufacturer Quorn for 550 million pounds ($833 million). Two years earlier the Philippines' Del Monte Pacific acquired the consumer food business of unrelated, US-based Del Monte Foods for $1.675 billion.