BIZ BUZZ: SM may finally dig out of Atlas Mining
Something curious slipped out when SM Investments Corp. president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio was asked about growth areas for the SM Group in 2026.
While he spoke enthusiastically about renewable energy and logistics—two sectors he said the conglomerate wanted to expand faster—he described one business in noticeably different terms. Mining, he said, was an “outlier.”
That label was not accidental. Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., long part of SM’s investment portfolio, does not share the same customer ecosystem as malls, retail, property, banking or logistics. It stands apart—operationally and strategically.
Pressed further, DyBuncio acknowledged what industry watchers have quietly speculated for years: the group’s continued presence in mining may no longer be core to its long-term blueprint.
“That’s something which we’ve been discussing at the board level, whether we want to take up Atlas from the portfolio or not,” he said. He added that such a move “could happen in the near future.”
In fact, DyBuncio did not rule out a scenario where SM becomes effectively mining-free. The likely path, he said, would be to reduce its stake in Atlas rather than an abrupt exit—suggesting a gradual unwinding rather than a dramatic farewell.
Such a shift would sharpen SM’s focus on businesses that reinforce each other. Renewable energy supports its property footprint. Logistics strengthens retail and e-commerce. Mining, by contrast, offers little operational overlap—even if copper remains globally relevant.
For now, Atlas remains in the portfolio. But DyBuncio’s candid framing—that mining sits outside the group’s synergy map—signals that SM’s future growth story may be built less on digging minerals and more on powering, moving and serving the modern economy.
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