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Monday, January 16, 2006
Dolefil sets eye on bankrupt firm
PINEAPPLE giant Dole Philippines (Dolefil) Inc. is set to take over a bankrupt competitor in Surallah, South Cotabato.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced this development Tuesday as another source who spoke on condition of anonymity said negotiations for Dolefil to buy out T'boli Agro-Industrial Development Inc. (Tadi) have been up in the last few months.
Arroyo said that Tadi is "long closed and will open again because Dole is taking over."
But Tadi has not totally stopped its operations. It continues to accept processing works from other companies.
"There's no final deal yet but Dole is obviously keen on taking over Tadi's entire operation by buying it," the source said.
He added, "Negotiations are still going on until such time that Dole can come to terms with bank creditors and the receiver."
The court has appointed Francisco Buencamino as receiver.
Kevin Davis, Dole general manager, could not be contacted for comment following Arroyo's announcement.
Dole is currently renting the facilities of Tadi, which has over P1 billion in debts.
Dole conducted a trial run of Tadi's facilities only last Monday through rent arrangement, which the source did not elaborate.
Romeo Sustigue Sr., chairman of the T'boli Multi-Fruit Growers Cooperative, said they welcomed Dole's intention to take over Tadi.
The cooperative has a marketing partnership with Dole.
"Definitely, it would augur well to the pineapple growers once the deal between Dole and Tadi is finally sealed. As far as we growers are concerned, it would lessen our freight costs," said Sustiguer, who has eight hectares of land planted with pineapple.
Tadi, once headed by former agriculture secretary Senen Bacani during the Aquino administration, started operations in Surallah town in the early 1990s.
The company started having problems after its growers sold the harvests to other processing companies reportedly because of Tadi's low buying price. (RBS)
(January 16, 2006 issue)
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