Metro Pacific raises stake in Skyway project

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the local infrastructure and tollways unit of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd., has forged an agreement with the Citra Group of Indonesia to acquire an additional 11-percent stake in Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC).

CMMTC is the builder of the Skyway 2 project, a seven-kilometer toll road that will connect Bicutan to Alabang.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) president and chief executive director Jose Ma. K. Lim told reporters yesterday that the acquisition of an additional 11-percent interest in CMMTC would raise its total holdings to around 13 percent or 14 percent.

The sale, when completed, will dilute the Citra Group’s interest in CMMTC to 55 percent from the existing 66 percent.

Lim said MPTC intends to further increase its stake in CMMTC over the long-term. Aside from the Citra Group, other shareholders of CMMTC are Avenue Asia, which holds an 18-percent interest, and state-owned Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC).

Earlier reports said MPTC was looking to increase its stake to 30 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 PNCC. 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.

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

The second phase of the Skyway project, which is expected to create 30,000 jobs over a period of two years, forms part of the 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 NLEX. It effectively owns 67.1 percent of Manila North Tollways Corp. and 46 percent of Tollways Management Corp.