Fox Business, 15 April 2013
A unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC.PH) on Monday won the bid to build and operate an elevated toll road that will link Manila’s airport terminals with Entertainment City, the Philippines’ gaming and entertainment complex envisaged as the next big gaming draw in Asia.
The government’s PPP Center, which supervised the bidding for the NAIA Expressway project, said San Miguel’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. submitted the higher upfront payment of 11 billion Philippine pesos ($267 million). It said the other bidder, Manila North Tollways Corp., a unit of listed Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPI.PH), offered PHP305 million.
PPP Center said the upfront payment is a single lump sum amount that would have to be paid by the winning bidder to the government before signing the agreement to run the four-lane, 7.75-kilometer elevated toll way. The 30-year concession period includes the construction period, the PPP Center said.
The project, estimated to cost about PHP16 billion to build, will also include a 2.2-kilometer ground-level feeder road. It will include a PHP6.5 billion subsidy from the four companies building integrated resorts and casinos in Entertainment City.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson told reporters that Optimal Infrastructure’s offer is a “very good bid for the government”.
Food-to-power conglomerate San Miguel is also involved in other tollroad projects, including the La Union-Pangasinan-Tarlac Expressway, as part of its diversification into heavy industries.
