By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter
PANGILINAN-LED Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) hopes to wrap up the deal for the government’s shares in two major toll roads soon, the company’s president said.
“SCTEx (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) is next, but I wanted to complete the Cavitex (Manila-Cavite Expressway) first due to its ongoing issues,” MPTC President and Chief Executive Officer Rogelio L. Singson said on the sidelines of a recent forum.
In April, MPTC’s unit Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. (CIC) said it was aiming to acquire the government’s residual shares in Cavitex.
This follows a case filed by a unit of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) with the Court of Appeals to take over toll road operations.
Under the Public Estates Authority Tollway Corp.’s (PEATC) petition dated April 8, the PRA unit is asking the Court of Appeals to operate, maintain, and collect toll fees over Cavitex. PEATC is a non-chartered government-owned and -controlled corporation.
He said the initial offer to acquire the government’s share in Cavitex stands around P4.5 billion.
“But because they should put in P2 billion in equity which they did not, we will get that, so the net will be around P2.5 billion,” he said.
Under the joint venture agreement, CIC’s role is the design, financing, and construction of the Manila–Cavite toll expressway project covering a total of 23.8 kilometers.
The joint venture agreement outlines a revenue-sharing model of 90:10, with CIC receiving 90% and the remainder going to PEATC.
“We are hoping we can do it soon because otherwise we cannot do interoperability, we cannot upgrade the system. We cannot maintain it properly because that is not our responsibility; that is the responsibility of PEATC,” he said.
Mr. Singson said tollway operators are hoping to implement the interoperability between toll collection systems by October.
Asked if the closing would happen within the year, Mr. Singson said: “Hopefully, the offer is there. It is up to them.”
Aside from Cavitex, the government, through the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, had previously expressed its intention to sell its 50% stake in the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway to MPTC for at least P20 billion.
Mr. Singson said that MPTC is negotiating the value of the offer.
“The discussion is ongoing; our offer is lower than P20 billion. If they really wanted P20 billion, we might be the ones selling to them,” he said.
“Our offer is around P8 billion,” Mr. Singson said.
Earlier this month, MPTC acquired the government’s 2.61% stake in NLEX Corp. for P2.5 billion, increasing its total ownership of the toll road to 73.39%.
Aside from these, the company is also wrapping up another tollway acquisition after it signed a strategic investment cooperation with its unit along with its partner Singapore’s GIC Pte. Ltd. to acquire a 35% stake valued at approximately $1 billion in Jasamarga Trans-jawa Tol, a subsidiary of PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk, Indonesia’s state-owned toll road operator.
MPTC is the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
