Metro Pacific Tollways Corp eyes bigger stake in Skyway project

MANILA, Philippines – Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is in talks with the Citra Group of Indonesia to increase its stake in Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC), which is building a seven-kilometer toll road connecting Bicutan to Alabang – the second phase of the Skyway project.

MPTC president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez said the company is keen on further raising its investment in CMMTC which currently stands at five percent.

The Metro Pacific group had long been interested in increasing its investment in CMMTC since 2006 but the Indonesian group that controls the Skyway could not decide if it wanted to retain control or to sell.

The Skyway project is a joint venture between Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada, a publicly-listed toll operator in Indonesia, and the state-controlled Philippine National Construction Corp. The first phase of the 35-kilometer elevated toll road, with a cost of more than $500 million, was built along the South Luzon Expressway.

Fernandez said construction of the Skyway’s second phase, which will extend the existing Skyway to Alabang in Muntinlupa, as well as the rehabilitation of the existing expressway including toll collection systems and toll plazas, will cost more than P10 billion.  

The Skyway extension, which is expected to create 30,000 jobs over a period of two years, forms part of a P38.1-billion road construction package designed to decongest the major roadways in and around Metro Manila.

The Skyway project was done on a build-transfer-operate basis wherein Citra financed the design and construction of the toll road, after which it will transfer ownership of the toll road to the government. The government then allows Citra to recover its investment and generate some profits through the collection of tolls from motorists using the Skyway.

Other projects included in the package include Segment 8.1, which will connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) from Mindanao Avenue to Valenzuela City; Segment 9 and 10 covering a distance of eight kilometers from NLEX to MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela and Port Area in Manila; and the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Expressway from C3 in Caloocan City to Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati City.

MPTC is a publicly listed, infrastructure company that manages the expansion, operation and maintenance of the North Luzon Expressway. It effectively owns 67.1 percent of Manila North Tollways Corp. and 46 percent of the Tollways Management Corp.