Foreign operators keen on Phl ports

MANILA, Philippines - A number of foreign port operators, one based in Malaysia, have expressed interest in investing in Philippine ports owned or operated by the Harbour Centre group.

Harbour Centre Ports Terminal Inc. president Michael Romero told The STAR in a telephone interview that these offers will be considered after all their port operations are consolidated under publicly listed Mic Holdings.

The STAR earlier reported that Sultan 900 Capital Inc., an investment company owned and controlled by Romero, has acquired 95.2 percent of Mic for P175 million. Sultan 900 bought the controlling shares from Ventcap, a company identified with Antonio Cojuangco, at P339 per share or 3.39 times its par value.

Romero, newly elected chairman and president of Mic, said that by the second or third quarter next year, Mic will have to raise around $100 million both for port and information technology-related ventures.

“What we will probably be needing are strategic partners or those that can provide us additional expertise. But since we would also need to raise funds for Mic’s expansion plans, then we might also consider those that can provide us new funds,” he said.

He said Mic will undergo a major corporate restructuring that will include amending its business purpose, increasing its authorized capital from P100 million to P2 billion initially, increasing the number of shares, and possibly changing the par value of its shares.

Mic’s new majority shareholders will also offer to acquire the remaining four-percent stake held by minority shareholders starting Wednesday next week at a price of P339 per share.

Mic will serve as the holding company for Romero’s existing port businesses, which include Harbour Centre and a 65-percent stake in Manila North Harbor Port Inc. (MNHPI), as well as future port acquisitions and operations both here and abroad.

Romero also told The STAR that they will retain Mic’s existing IT businesses and will just add on to it, including those that are port-related.

In an earlier interview, Romero said that in the next two years, Mic will concentrate on acquiring additional ports in the country and then later consolidate the operations of these ports.