SM weighs Atlas Mining exit to focus on core businesses

The Sy family conglomerate SM Investments Corp. is preparing to cut or exit its stake in Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. as it continues to streamline holdings outside its core portfolio.

SM Investments president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio said Atlas lacks strong synergies with SM’s core portfolio, making the current strength in mining valuations a good opportunity to sell.

SM Investments effectively owns 34.1 percent of the listed mining firm, which operates the Toledo copper mine in Cebu and holds a nickel laterite project in Palawan.

“There’s no synergy with the rest of the group,” he told reporters in a media briefing on Monday.

He said the SM Group leadership is weighing the sale of Atlas, which was the banking, real estate and retail conglomerate’s first investment when it entered the Ramos-led miner in 2011.

“That’s something which we’ll be discussing at the board level whether we want to take out Atlas from the portfolio or not. But that’s something which could happen in the near future,” he said.

“That’s probably going to be the direction we will take… reduce the stake in Atlas Mining,” he added.