MPTC to sell stake in Vietnam firm

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) will sell its Vietnam operations for at least P4 billion to simplify its business structure in preparation for the possible merger with the toll road operations of San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

Tycoons Manuel V. Pangilinan and Ramon S. Ang are making progress in negotiations to combine their expressway units, as they started to brainstorm the possible projects that they will work on, such as an elevated toll road on C5 Road and EDSA.

As their talks gain headway, MPTC plans to dispose of its 44.9 percent stake in CII Bridges and Roads Investments Joint Stock Co. (CII B&R), the concessionaire for Hanoi Highway Expansion Phase 2 and the Rach Mieu Bridge in Vietnam.

“The complicating factor (for the merger) is that we have Indonesian operations. We will sell our Vietnam stake so our business structure will be simpler, so Vietnam is not part of the equation,” Pangilinan told The STAR.

MPTC president and CEO Rogelio Singson confirmed to The STAR that the company is looking for a buyer for its share in CII B&R. He said MPTC expects to raise about P4 billion from the sale.

MPTC wants to dispose of its shares in CII B&R to a local entity in Vietnam, and it is optimistic that a transaction will be completed this year.

As they move forward in their negotiations, Pangilinan and Ang have begun exchanging ideas on what projects their joint venture would pursue.

The businessmen reviewed the traffic conditions within and around Metro Manila, and identified two roads that require the most intervention: C5 and EDSA.

In one of their recent talks, Pangilinan floated the possibility of constructing an elevated tollway over C5, leading all the way to Commonwealth Avenue. Ang said a similar project has to be put up in EDSA, where more than 400,000 vehicles travel daily, making it the busiest thoroughfare in Metro Manila.

However, both Pangilinan and Singson agreed that it will take time before MPTC can merge with SMC’s expressway business. Singson said MPTC and SMC have to secure the approval of all of their grantors, referring to the agencies that gave them concessions to manage their projects.

Further, MPTC expects to win the bidding for a 35 percent hold in PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol, the company handling a 676-kilometer portion of the Trans-Java Toll.

Once that deal is awarded, MPTC’s foreign business will outvalue its local network, and this will play a crucial part in the proposed merger with SMC.

MPTC toll roads saw a 32 percent spike in their daily traffic to 1.23 million in 2023, of which 40 percent was traced to Indonesia at 489,728.

The entry of Trans-Java Toll in the equation will add about 850,000 vehicles to the daily volume in MPTC’s network. Considering this, Pangilinan and Ang are discussing whether the Indonesian segment will be included in the joint venture given its immensity in cost and size.

Nevertheless, the agreement is to own the resulting company equally in half. Pangilinan said the smaller company would pay the bigger operator in cash or assets, or both, to even the numbers.

At the end of it, the target is to list an infrastructure giant in the Philippine Stock Exchange once the merger of the tollway operators is completed.