ILOILO CITY — Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) is gearing up for privatization next year via the auction of its distribution operation and a Swiss challenge to the unsolicited proposal by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) for a bulk supply project.
MANILA, Philippines – Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Philippine infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) are investing P5.8 billion to acquire a 29.45 percent stake in a toll road operator in Thailand. FPM Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., 75 percent owned by First Pacific and 25 percent owned by MPIC, is investing in Don Muang Tollway Public Co. Ltd (DMT) as part of plans to invest in infrastructure projects in the region. First Pacific is spending P4.4 billion for a 26.2 percent stake in the toll road operator while MPIC is investing P1.4 billion for a 3.25 percent interest in DMT. The vendor of the toll road stake is a 50-50 joint venture between Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and South East Asian Strategic Assets Fund. Other major shareholders of DMT include the Phanichewa Group with 37.1 percent and Thailand’s Ministry of Finance with 25.1 percent. First Pacific managing director and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement that the company is seeing more opportunities outside the infrastructure market of the Philippines. “We welcome the prospect of diversifying our investments as we continue to seek strong and steady returns for our shareholders,” Pangilinan said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He pointed out that the First Pacific Group is keen on further investing in infrastructure, telecommunications as well as consumer and food sectors in emerging Asian countries. “We are strong believers in the growth potential for emerging Asia in the years ahead and we Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – A Washington-based investment manager focusing on emerging markets has secured a minority stake in infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC). In a regulatory filing, MPIC said Cartica Management Llc has secured 5.02 percent or 1.306 billion shares of the company. The transaction is “an investment position taken in connection with Cartica’s ordinary course of business in investment management,” MPIC said. In the past two months, Cartica, which was founded in 2008, has been buying around 21 million to 141 million shares in MPIC. “Cartica is an emerging markets fund manager employing an active ownership strategy to achieve superior returns for investors,” the company said in its web site. Its recent acquisitions and private placements include Skyware Radio Systems GmbH, India’s TTK Prestige Ltd. and The Ratnakar Bank Ltd. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Cartica manages a series of fund vehicles all investing together in a concentrated, long-only portfolio of equity securities of publicly-traded companies,” the fund manager said. Cartica manages money for large US pensions like Calpers and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. “Cartica acquires significant stakes, usually representing two to five percent of the outstanding shares of a portfolio company,” it added. Its investment team previously worked together in the senior leadership of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corp., which focuses on investing in emerging markets like the Philippines. For its part, MPIC is one of the top conglomerates in the Philippines focusing in the industrial sector. MPIC’s core Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The country’s top conglomerates have expressed renewed interest in participating in the country’s largest Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project to date following the government’s move to revise the concession deal. San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), DMCI Holdings Inc. and Ayala Corp. are now looking to bid for the previously failed auction of the P60-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT 1) Cavite extension project, executives said. “We will look at what the conditions are but the revised terms look good,” DMCI chief finance officer Herbert Consunji said in a phone interview. “Yes, we would,” MPIC chief finance officer David Nicol said in a text message when asked if the Pangilinan-led infrastructure conglomerate will join the LRT 1 bidding anew. SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the diversified conglomerate is also interested in the LRT 1 project. Early this week, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the agency revised the concession agreement for LRT 1. The changes addressed five major issues: real property tax, power rates, warranty on the structure, fare adjustments, and the negative bid. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We’re just waiting for government to reissue the new bid documents,” Noel Eli Kintanar, executive vice-president of the Ayala conglomerate’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., said yesterday. “I think [the revision] addresses many of the issues that led the bidders not to put in a bid,” Kintanar said. In August, only MPIC submitted a bid without partner Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the largest toll road management firm in the Philippines, said it is on track to hitting its full-year traffic growth target despite the recent harsh weather that disrupted operations. The tollway unit of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is also waiting for government approvals for new projects and higher toll rates, a company official said. “The good thing is, we were ahead for the first seven and a half months. We should still meet target in terms of traffic (growth),” MPTC chief financial officer Christopher Lizo said. “Traffic growth target was three percent for the entire (toll road) network,” he said. From January to July, MPTC recorded a 6.5-percent increase in traffic for its portfolio, which is composed of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the 84-km North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and the 14-km Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex). However, Lizo said Typhoon Maring, the first major tropical storm this year, badly affected operations of MPTC. Maring and a southwest monsoon poured heavy rains in Luzon, resulting in flooding and the collapse of the Pasig-Potrero Bridge along SCTEx. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “To some extent when we do the budget, we incorporate the impact of extreme weather conditions,” Lizo said. To jack up revenues, MPTC is hoping to receive government approval for a 12-percent rate increase for NLEX. “In revenues, we are behind target but we’re still up against last year,” Lizo said. “We’re waiting for the tariff Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Publicly-listed Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), the flagship firm of the business empire headed by Manuel V. Pangilinan, is set to limit its interest in utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco). Pangilinan, who serves as chairman of both MPIC and Meralco, told reporters in a chance interview that the holding firm intends to limit its stake in the electricity distributor within the tender offer requirement. “We want to keep Meralco a listed company so we would prefer not to breach the limits on the requirement for a general offer,” Pangilinan said. Under the Securities Regulation Code, any entity that acquires more than 51 percent of a listed company must offer to buy the remaining shares held by minority investors for the same price. This law aims to protect investors by allowing them to divest from a company when there is a significant change of ownership that may affect the way it operates. When asked if MPIC would acquire 51 percent of Meralco, he said the holding firm does not want to exceed the limit on the tender offer rule. “Something like that,” he added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 MPIC is the single largest shareholder in Meralco with a 48.3 percent interest through wholly owned subsidiary Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc. Last July 19, MPIC took up about 15 percent to 16 percent of the 64.3 million Meralco shares worth over P17 billion sold by diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC). San Miguel Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), fresh from beating its full-year core earnings guidance, expects another banner year amid continuous economic growth. Core net income, which strips out currency and derivatives-related items, jumped 30 percent to P1.5 billion in the fourth quarter. This allowed MPIC to post a 28-percent uptick in core profit to P6.5 billion in 2012 from P5.1 billion in 2011. It is also higher than the company’s P6.3-billion core profit guidance. “The strong results for 2012 reflect significant improvements in service levels and efficiency gains for all our operating companies,” MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a briefing. “It is likely that the 2013 results will be better than the 2012,” Pangilinan said, adding that the outlook is encouraging given optimistic views on the Philippine economy. In the fourth quarter, profits were driven by strong water, power distribution, toll roads and hospitals businesses, MPIC chief finance officer David J. Nicol said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For the entire year, consolidated net income rose to P6.4 billion from P5.1 billion a year ago. This reflects a P142-million non-recurring net loss. MPIC president and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim said the increase in core net income was due mainly to higher profit contributions from Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), higher rates for Maynilad Water Services Inc., traffic growth at Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and investments from the hospital group. In terms of contribution to MPIC’s net operating income, Maynilad Read More …
SINGAPORE – The tollway management unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is negotiating anew to take over the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). The latest proposal of Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) will allow the government to earn from a clearer revenue sharing system, company officials said. “A third one (proposal) is in order because the government is not convinced that [the second] proposal is acceptable to them on terms that will not require a market challenge,” MPIC president and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim said in a briefing. “We are still tweaking the proposal,” said Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president Ramoncito S. Fernandez. In July 2011, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) signed the SCTEx business and operating agreement with MNTC and holding firms MPTC and MPIC. Under the deal, MNTC will operate and manage the 94-kilometer SCTEx for 33 years while relieving SCTEx builder BCDA of the heavy financial burden of paying the P34-billion debt to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 However, MPIC has yet to secure the final approval from President Aquino. The Department of Finance wants a rebidding of the contract given issues on the revenue sharing. Lim said the new proposal is based on a revenue sharing and a guarantee system. He said MNTC wants to “make it clearer to the government that in the course of taking over the debt service, we will be contributing a specified amount of equity that will be comparable Read More …