Singapore's GIC invests $76m in Philippine company

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC said Friday it has made an investment of 3.4 billion peso (76 million U.S. dollars) in Century Canning Corporation, the parent company of a Philippine food company. The investment is made in the form of exchangeable loan, with an interest rate of 5 percent. Century Canning Corporation is the parent firm of Century Pacific Food Inc., which will be listed on May 6. The company will use the loan to finance the growth and expansion of its subsidiaries including Century Pacific Food, which produces fish and meat products such as tuna and corned beef for local and export markets. The businesses of Century Pacific Food also include canned and powered milk and other dairy products as well as coffee mixes. GIC, which manages well over 100 billion U.S. dollars of Signapore's reserves, said the investment was "a vote of confidence" in the Philippine economy as well as the value and management capability of the companies.