The Philippine government is close to approving Kirin Brewery's planned investment in San Miguel after assurances that the deal would not weaken the country's equity position in its biggest food and beverage company.
Rigoberto Tiglao, spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said on Thursday that the government had no objections to Kirin's $540m acquisition of 15 per cent of San Miguel. He added that a formal announcement could be made before Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, visits Manila on January 9.
"The decision is made not to oppose it but some of the details [of Kirin's entry] will have to be worked out," Mr Tiglao said.
He said a group of government lawyers had reviewed the deal after talking to Kirin and San Miguel over the holidays.
Kirin last month announced the deal, the biggest foreign investment in the Philippines since Mrs Macapagal assumed power nearly a year ago.
While welcoming the investment as a seal of good economic housekeeping for the country, Mrs Macapagal also ordered a review to ensure the deal would not erode the value of government-held San Miguel shares acquired with funds collected from coconut farmers in the early-1980s.
Some government officials initially opposed the deal, fearing it would reinforce corporate control by Eduardo Cojuangco Jr, the San Miguel chairman accused by the government of conspiring with former strongman Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies of illegally using coconut levy funds to purchase a controlling stake in the company.