PSE Circular for Brokers No. 536-99

March 22, 1999 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 536-99 Press Release Reference, Rene Bermio 734-95-78 La Tondea Awards Preferred Share Issue La Tondea Distillers, Inc. (LTDI) announced yesterday, March 19, that it was entered into a definitive agreement with two international institutions that will invest an aggregate P1 billion in convertible preferred shares. The investors are BancAmerica Equity Partners ("BancAmerica") and Orchid Asia Holdings San Miguel Corporation, the majority shareholder of La Tondea, is also investing P1 billion in these shares, on identical terms. llcd BancAmerica Equity partners (BancAmerica) is the exclusive provider of direct equity and related investment capital for Bank of America. The unit makes both direct and indirect equity investments and has committed capital of US$4.3 billion globally. Bank of America, with US$595 billion in total assets, is the largest bank in the United States. Orchid Asia Holdings is an independent private equity investment from headquartered in San Francisco, with Asian Offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. Orchid and its affiliates have over US$100 million of committed capital from a group of leading institutional investors and high net worth individuals in the United States. The selection of the investors followed a competitive bidding process, "The two institutions offered the best terms," said Teresa del Mundo, LTDI Chief Finance Officer. "We are extremely pleased with this vote of confidence in our company." The convertible preferred shares will be issued at P30.50 per shares. This represents a 7% premium to P28.50, LTDI's share price at the time the bids were accepted. The preferred share are entitled to receive an annual dividend of P1.50 per share and are redeemable at issue price after five years. "BancAmerica and orchid are delighted to invest in La Tondea, a company with strong brand equity and a comprehensive distribution network," commented Jane J. Su, principal of BancAmerica, and Gabriel Li, Managing Partner of Orchid HongKong. "We look forward to working with La Tondea's management in building further successes for the Company in the future," Del Mundo explained that the funds raised from the issuance will be used to pay the Company's short-term debts. Last year, the Company was able to pare down its interest-bearing debts from P6.6 billion to P4.4 billion, using internally-generated cash together with the P1 billion deposit of San Miguel for its participation in the convertible preferred shares issue. "This is the first equity deal from a listed company in the Philippines this year. We are pleased at the renewed institutional investor interest in the country," said Simon Paterno, Managing Director of J.P. Morgan. J.P. Morgan acted as La Tondea's sole placement agent for the share issue.