MPTC raising up to P50B to trim debts
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), which is invested in toll road expansion here and abroad, is set to raise P30 billion to P50 billion this year mainly to lessen its obligations ahead of the planned merger with the tollways unit of San Miguel Corp.
Manuel Pangilinan, chair and president of MPTC parent company Metro Pacific Investments Corp., told reporters in Taguig City on Wednesday they would be raising funds through a private placement.
The proceeds will be used “mainly to reduce debts,” he said.
Asked regarding the tollway merger with San Miguel, he said they have “no definitive schedule” for its conclusion.
The two parties have been in talks for the potential merger since 2023 when they signed up for a partnership to build an expressway in Southern Tagalog.
MPTC has been building more tollways amid the resurgence of mobility.
For example, MPTC is set to add lanes to the 1.3-kilometer expressway that links Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) and Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax)—to a 3×3 tollway from the initial design of 2×2.
MPTC is also working on Cavitex C5 Link Expressway and the remaining portion of Calax.
New projects
The 7.7-km Cavitex C5 Link links motorists from Makati and Taguig to Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite. Calax is a 44.57-km expressway that starts at Centennial Road, Kawit, Cavite and ends at the Greenfield property in Binan, Laguna.
The operator of North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) also opened the Candaba 3rd Viaduct last year. The 5-km toll road, which links Apalit, Pampanga, and Pulilan, Bulacan, was built between the two existing viaducts, expanding road capacity.
Overseas, the company is set to build an P80-billion elevated expressway linking east and south Jakarta by second half of next year, expanding its toll road portfolio in Indonesia.
The 21.6-km toll road will be constructed on top of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road-1 (JORR-1).
JORR-1 is being operated by PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol (JTT), whose 35-percent stake was acquired by MPTC and partner Singaporean investor GIC last year.
The JTT road network, comprising 13 toll interchanges, traverses West Java, Central Java and East Java. It services 850,000 motorists on a daily basis.
