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Can a brewer successfully run a major airport? The Philippines may be about to find out. (Nikkei montage / source photos courtesy of San Miguel)

San Miguel's $15bn airport: Game changer or white elephant?

Philippine beer giant bets its future on a four-runway aerotropolis

TOKYO/BULACAN, Philippines -- Amid the sodden mangroves of Taliptip, a sleepy fishing village 30 kilometers north of Manila, the San Miguel Corporation is planning to build the world's second-largest airport.

The $15 billion behemoth is the brainchild of Ramon S. Ang, San Miguel's restless president and second-biggest shareholder, who over 17 years has transformed the 130-year-old company from a brewer into a sprawling food, energy and infrastructure conglomerate.

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