Filipino investors’ group to buy Chengs out of Piatco

A group of Filipino investors is reportedly planning to set up a consortium to buy businessman Jeffrey Cheng out of the Philippine International Airport Terminal Co. Inc. (Piatco), the consortium that built and was supposed to operate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3).

Sources said yesterday that former presidential adviser Gloria Tan-Climaco was leading talks among local investors, who were being persuaded to form a group to consider the possibility of buying out Cheng’s 60-percent stake in Piatco.

According to the source, Climaco was already talking to a group since Cheng started actively looking for investors willing to buy him out of Piatco.

Fraport AG, the German airport operator, owns the remaining 40 percent of Piatco, which won the right to develop and operate the NAIA-3 terminal under a build-operate-transfer scheme. The facility, however, has never been opened following the controversy over the project’s BOT contract.

Aside from the buy-out, the source said there was also a proposal on the table for the conversion of Piatco’s BOT contract into a build-own-operate (BOO) contract that would allow Fraport to be paid outright, while staying on as airport operator after the facility is transferred to the government.

"Fraport is totally dismayed by how it has turned out," said one source on condition of anonymity. "They have gone to several agencies of the government to work out a solution but I don’t think they have found one."

Exasperated by the legal imbroglio, Fraport has already decided to write off its investment in Piatco, while Cheng started actively looking for someone to buy him out of the consortium, even offering the shares to Fraport.

Several other sources confirmed that Cheng was looking for a buyer but it was not known that Climaco was already in talks with any group to arrange the buy-out.

A source privy to ongoing negotiations said Climaco was in talks with several unnamed local investors.

"Remember that when she was presidential adviser, it was Climaco who made the recommendation that the Piatco contract (be declared) void," said another source.

Climaco resigned as presidential adviser on strategic studies last December 2002, although Malacañang said she was retained as a senior consultant.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA)-NAIA Association of Service Operators (MASO) spokesman Perfecto Yasay Jr. confirmed there was a proposal to convert the BOT contract to BOO but said he was not aware of any plan to form a group that would buy out either Cheng or Fraport.

Yasay said the Cheng group has indeed been actively looking for someone to buy them out of Piatco, but was unable to find a buyer because of their steep asking price.

"Cheng has offered his shares to Fraport for $250 million and even offered it to (container terminal magnate) Enrique Razon for the same price, but they didn’t bite," Yasay said.

"In any case, Fraport can’t buy out Cheng because Piatco is a utility company and foreign interests can own only up to 40 percent."

According to another source privy to the ongoing talks between Fraport and the government, Fraport was initially open to the proposal to convert the project scheme from BOT to BOO, where the government would immediately buy out the proponent, which will continue to operate the terminal facility.

"The advantage of this scheme is that Fraport gets paid immediately by the government and it could continue to be a part of the consortium that would operate the terminal if it wants to," the source said.

The same source said "the question on the table is whether there was a way for Fraport to continue with the project. We don’t know yet."

Fraport, however, has announced in a statement that it had decided to write off its investments worth 293 million euros — equivalent to around $311.8 million — although the company was quick to add that it was not giving up its claims on its investment in the Piatco project. — With Marichu Villanueva, Paolo Romero