FB Roundup Ana Maria Aboitiz-Delgado, Kumar Birla, Agnelli family
Ana Maria Aboitiz-Delgado appointed head of UnionBank
Ana Maria Aboitiz-Delgado has been appointed president and chief executive of UnionBank of the Philippines, the country’s ninth-largest bank by assets.
Delgado is a fifth generation heir of the Aboitiz family which controls the banks. She is the daughter of Roberto Eduardo Aboitiz and will succeed Edwin Bautista.
Delgado joined UnionBank as a management trainee in November 2003. Over the course of her career, she has led the business development of SME banking and retail consumer finance, which included credit cards and loans.
In July last year, she expanded her role to head the bank’s institutional banking business on top of heading customer experience and digital channels and serving as a director of the UnionBank board and as chair of the CitySavings Bank board.
Delgado is widely credited for leading UnionBank’s digital retail banking innovations such as the digital bank branch model and UnionBank Online.
“We are looking forward to taking UnionBank to greater heights with Ana at the helm. Her experience and expertise will allow her to lead the Bank’s continued digital transformation,” says Erramon Aboitiz, chairman of the UnionBank board of directors.
Alongside the bank, the Aboitiz family’s main holding is Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) one of the country’s leading conglomerates with interests in power, banking and financial services, food, infrastructure and real estate as well as Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
The Forbes Rich List estimates the family’s wealth at $3.2 billion.
Kumar Birla defends his position in cement industry
Indian billionaire industrialist Kumar Birla has taken a 23% non-controlling stake worth up to $228 million in Chennai-based India Cements. Taken via his firm UltraCement, the acquisition should maintain Birla’s position as the leading cement producer in the country and counters rival Gautam Adani who has been snapping at his heels.
India’s cement market is expected to double to $49.24 billion by 2029 from 2022 levels according to Reuters and has been dominated by Birla’s company until Adani moved into the sector in 2022. Adan’s Ambuja Cements is now the country’s second-largest player.
UltraTech has an annual capacity of 152.7 million tonnes and is aiming for 200 million tonnes by March 2027. Ambuja Cements has a capacity of 89 million tonnes and is targeting 140 million tonnes by 2028.
UltraTech will pay up to Rs267 ($3.19) a share to buy 70.6 million shares, the firm said in a stock exchange filing. This will make UltraCement the second-largest shareholder in India Cements, behind the founders who own 28.5%.
With a family fortune that is rooted in cotton trading in Rajasthan, Kumar Birla is the fourth-generation head of the Aditya Birla Group. A chartered accountant by training, he inherited the family empire at the age of 28 when his father Aditya Birla died in 1995.
The Forbes Rich List estimates his wealth at $24 billion.
Agnelli family increases stake in Philips
The Agnelli family has increased its stake in Royal Philips to 17.51% confirming its position as the largest stakeholder in the Dutch medical device manufacturer.
Last year it acquired a 15% stake in the conglomerate via Exor, the family's holding company. By May of this year, that stake had grown to 16.1%, according to SEC filings.
It has proved to be a canny move for Exor. Bloomberg estimates that its investment in Philips so far has been €3.3 billion ($3.5 billion) and its shares have risen around 28% over the past year.
The family dynasty began at the end of the 19th century when Giovanni Agnelli founded the auto manufacturer Fiat in the Italian city of Turin. The family is currently headed by John Elkann who took over in 2004, after the death of his grandfather also called Gianni Agnelli.
Elkann has managed the family stakes in both Ferrari and Fiat. He oversaw Fiat’s acquisition of a stake in Chrysler in 2009 as well as its merger with Peugeot in January 2021 to form Stellantis.
The family has also expanded its interests beyond the automotive sector. The family hold a non-controlling 50% stake in British weekly The Economist as well as Italian newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa. It is perhaps best known for its ownership of Italian football team Juventus.
The Agnelli family is estimated to be worth $13.1 billion, while Forbes puts Elkann’s worth at $2.6 billion.
