Ayala invests add’l P2.8 B in Mla Water

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala Corp. (AC) has beefed up its stake in Manila Water Co. Inc. by nearly P3 billion, marking another move to increase its ownership in its operating units.

In a regulatory filing, the country’s oldest conglomerate said it acquired 140 million common shares of Manila Water for P2.8 billion through a special block sale.

“The shares were acquired from its strategic partner, Mitsubish Corp., which has been a long-time partner of AC since 1974 and has been a shareholder of Manila Water since 1997,” AC said.

With the acquisition, AC’s shares in the water utility rose to 48.8 percent from 43.1 percent while Mitsubishi’s ownership was trimmed to 1.2 percent.

“Manila Water has consistently shown its ability to deliver world-class water and wastewater services, which brings countless benefits to the local and international communities in which it operates,” said AC president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala.

“We believe in the long-term growth potential of Manila Water as it continues to expand outside the east zone of Metro Manila into other areas here and abroad that are in critical need of reliable water and wastewater services,” he added.

In an earlier move, AC and Singapore-based fund manager GIC Private Ltd. bought the remaining shares of DBS Bank Ltd. at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) for P29.6 billion. Through the transaction, GIC and AC acquired 5.6 percent and 4.3 percent in BPI, respectively.

Aside from being Metro Manila’s east zone concessionaire, Manila Water has four domestic water businesses: Boracay Water, Laguna Water, Clark Water and a bulk water supply project in Cebu. These businesses serve around eight million customers.

Manila Water said it continues to expand coverage and reduce non-revenue water or system leakage over the past years.

The water utility also expanded its business to the Southeast Asian region, particularly through two bulk water supply facilities in Vietnam.

Its leakage reduction project in Ho Chi Minh City that started in 2008 has outperformed its target and has benefited 25 percent of the city’s six million population.

Aside from Manila Water and BPI, AC is also into property (Ayala Land Inc.), telecommunications (Globe Telecom Inc.), electronics (Integrated Microelectronics Inc.), car dealership (Ayala Automotive), business process outsourcing (LiveIt), infrastructure (AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.) and power generation (AC Energy Holdings Inc.).