MPIC not in a hurry to take in foreign partner for tollways proj

MANILA, Philippines - Infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is not in a hurry to sell a portion of its stake in Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) after failing to win the controversial P35.4-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) project, its top executive said.

MPIC president Jose Ma. K. Lim said they are waiting for Malacañang’s decision on its P18-billion North Luzon and South Luzon Expressway connector road as well as the approval of its planned expansion of the Manila-Cavite toll expressway.

The company announced last May that at least two foreign investors have expressed interest in taking at least 20 percent stake in MPTC. MPIC owns 99.8 percent of MPTC – the largest toll road operator in the Philippines accounting for 63 percent of the country’s total 320-kilometer toll road network.

MPTC owns 71 percent of Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) that operates the 76.7-km NLEX and the 94-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, 100 percent of Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. that operates the 14-km Cavitex, 46 percent of Tollways Management Corp (TMC), and 29.45 percent of Thailand’s Don Muang Tollway Public Co. Ltd (DMT) via FPM Infrastructure Holdings Ltd.

“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,” Lim said.

Malacañang has earlier directed the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to immediately resolve the legal hurdles to the NLEX-SLEX connector road after the Department of Justice issued an opinion on the legality of the joint venture between Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp, (MPTDC) and state-run Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC).

The joint venture approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) amended or extended the existing joint venture between MPTDC and PNCC as well as the supplemental toll operations agreement (STOA) to cover the extension of the franchise of NLEX under Presidential Decree 1894.

The NLEX-SLEX connector project was originally submitted to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as an unsolicited proposal in May 2010 under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme but was shifted to a joint venture to hasten the process.

Lim said the company is hopeful the issue would be resolved soon with the intervention of President Aquino as the project has been pending with the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

“If there is any question, the government should take a position as to what is the correct process because we are only following directions of the government on which structure, whether Swiss Challenge or not. The government should tell us clearly,” he said.

Furthermore, Lim added that the company is also waiting for the approval of the expansion of Cavitex as the company has earmarked P8 billion to link the toll road to C5.

However, he clarified that MPIC would have pursued the entry of a strategic partner had it won the bidding for the Calax project that is now the subject of an appeal before the Office of the President.

“So there is not real rush but had we won Calax that would have been different,” he explained.

 Malacañang issued a “stay order” last June 30 preventing DPWH from awarding the Public Private partnership (PPP) project to the highest bidder last June 13. Team Orion – a 50-50 joint venture between Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings and Aboitiz Land – submitted the highest bid of P11.659 billion for the project, followed by MPIC’s MP CALA Holdings with P11.33 billion, and Malaysian-owned Alloy MTD Philippines with P922 million.

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. offered P20.105 billion for the project but filed a notice of appeal before Malacanang last June 27 questioning the disqualification of its unit, Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., from the bidding process.