MANILA – Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) is in no hurry to sell up to a fifth of the conglomerate’s tollway unit.
“We’ve received expressions of interest from others, but we are not in a particular hurry to dilute because we are still waiting for news on the Connector Road and the expansion plans of Cavitex, which needs to be approved. So there is no real rush but if we’ve won CALAX that would have been different,” Jose Ma. K. Lim, MPIC president told reporters last week.
MPIC owns 99.88 percent of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp (MPTC), which in turn owns 71 percent of Manila North Tollways Corp (MNTC), 46 percent of Tollways Management Corp (TMC), 100 percent of Cavitex Infrastructure Corp, and 7.4 percent of Don Muang Tollway Public Co Ltd.
Based on MPIC’s estimate, the 20 percent stake in MPTC would fetch P16 billion.
The Metro Pacific Group is building the P18 billion road connecting the North Luzon Expressway to the South Luzon Expressway.
The NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, or Segment 10.2, would be integrated to Segment 10.1, a 5.65-kilometer road that starts where Segment 9 ends on MacArthur Highway and stretches all the way to C3 Road.
The Department of Justice recently issued a legal opinion, requiring that the project undergo a Swiss challenge because it was proposed through unsolicited venture.
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) had endorsed the joint-venture route to expedite the project. To recall, Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp (MPTDC) earlier sealed a joint venture with Philippine National Construction Corp (PNCC) in a bid to facilitate construction of the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road.
Cavitex Infrastructure Corp is pursuing the construction of the P8 billion C5 Link Expressway Project, which is expected to start by January 2015.
The project involves the C5 crossing the South Luzon Expressway and passing through Merville Subdivision beside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport before connecting to the Cavitex. The project has yet to be approved by the Toll Regulatory Board.
In 2012, MPIC entered into a P6.77-billion financing and cooperation agreement with Cavitex Holdings Inc that may eventually allow MPTC to take 100 percent of Cavitex Infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Cavitex Holdings will issue a convertible note to MPTC, giving it the option to convert the debt to new, non-voting redeemable preferred shares or, subject to certain approvals and conditions, common shares of Cavitex Infrastructure.
The Metro Pacific Group also operates the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway.
InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5, which like MPIC is chaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan.
29 July 2014
By Darwin G. Amojelar
