BDO Funds Interflour’s Expansion in Philippines

Makati—(PHStocks)—Mabuhay Interflour Mill Inc. (MIMI) has entered into a PhP998-million, seven-year loan deal with BDO Unibank Inc. (PSE: BDO) to partly finance the construction of its flour mill within a 5.2-hectare property in Subic Bay Gateway Park Phase II.

MIMI is the Philippine Subsidiary of Interflour Group Pte Ltd of Singapore, one of the largest flour millers in Asia.

The project, which is expected to be completed early 2017, involves the milling of wheat into flood flour for direct sale to consumers, distributors and retailers in the country, as well as for the export market. The flour mill has a capacity to produce 50 metric tons of flour per day, which may be doubled to 1,000 metric tons by 2019.

“The investment of Interflour in the Philippines is a welcome development. BDO supports initiatives by conglomerates that generate employment opportunities in fast-growing business districts like Subic,” said the bank’s SVP and head of international desks Edward Wenceslao.

With an estimated 25,000 bakeshops operating in the country, Interflour considers the Philippines as an important market in the region.

“We welcome the support of BDO and thank them for the cooperation in working with us to develop local employment and more affordable flour for the Philippine community in general,” said Interflour chief executive Greg Harvey.

At present, Interflour has nine flour mills in operation–eight in Southeast Asia and one in Turkey–and has a  wheat milling capacity of 6,500 tons  per day. Its entry in the Philippines was established in June 2014 through the signing of a 50-year lease agreement with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.