Metro Pacific set to clean books this year

Metro Pacific Corp., the Philippine flagship company of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., expects to be able to clean its books by this year.

MPC officials told The STAR that from a high of P18 billion in 2001, the company’s indebtedness is now down to P4.1 billion. "We expect to be able to restructure and reduce this amount and clean the books by the end of this year," they said.

The company used a combination of assets sale and restructuring in order to bring down the level of indebtedness to the current level. And officials disclosed that there might be other assets that will be freed up in the future.

MPC has controlling stakes in several companies, including Landco Pacific, Negros Navigation Corp. (Nenaco), Pacific Plaza Towers, as well as landholdings other than those located at Fort Bonifacio.

And most recently, MPC was assured of at least P5 billion which it can use to reduce debt after a local consortium agreed to assume part of MPC’s indebtedness.

MPC is expected to close a deal with the Ayala Land-Greenfield Developed Corp. (ALI-GDC) consortium calling for the latter’s purchase of a 50.4 percent in Bonifacio Land Corp. (BLC), a company owned 73 percent by MPC, before the end of the month.

The ALI-GDC consortium earlier signed an agreement with MPC for their assumption of a $90-million loan extended by First Pacific-subsidiary Larounge BV to MPC. The loan was secured by 50.4 percent of BLC’s outstanding stocks.

Following the signing, First Pacific tasked an independent committee to study and finalize the deal. The committee was expected to finish the study during the first two weeks of January, according to MPC president and First Pacific executive chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

ALI and Greenfield, owned by United Laboratories’ Jose Yao Campos, will contribute an equal amount or around P2.5 billion each for the majority stake in Bonifacio Land. By acquiring a majority stake in Bonifacio Land, the Ayala-Campos group will control Metro Pacific’s biggest asset —— the Fort Bonifacio Global City.