Some might argue that Cojuangco's takeover is extraordinary in itself. Cojuangco vehemently denies the charge. The reins were then handed over to Andres Soriano, whose late father had sold nearly all of the family's shares to Cojuangco in 1983. The shares remain impounded and the case to confiscate them is still pending. Yet last June, the newly elected Estrada stepped back and let Cojuangco, who had backed him in the presidential race, take control of the brewing giant once again.
Most analysts seem to agree.
The widely held notion had been that brewery sales were sluggish because the beer was too expensive, particularly during an economic slowdown. San Miguel's marketing system was drastically overhauled. Once, only one firm was the distributor for all of metropolitan Manila. Now there are 25. The things we've done in our marketing will start making an impact only in the last half of the year.