MVP Group expects Air 21 deal closed soon

MANILA, Philippines — The MVP Group’s planned investment in Air21 is expected to happen within the quarter, tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan said yesterday.

“I think it will close soon…this quarter,” Pangilinan told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation’s first private sector-led national emergency operations center.

He said the company may first acquire a minority stake in Air21 and raise its ownership in the logistics giant later on.

Other conglomerates have been betting big on the highly lucrative and less regulated logistics industry, which is now dubbed as the new battlefront among businesses.

Negotiations between MPIC and Air21 have been ongoing since last year and the transaction will require the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission if it meets the P1 billion threshold.

Pangilinan said aside from Air21, MPIC is looking at other logistics companies to acquire.

These are smaller logistics companies as most of the existing players are still relatively small, he added.

Having Air21 in its portfolio will enable MPIC to have a last-mile company, which refers to a service provider that is able to bring goods to their final destination. This last leg of the supply chain is often the most tedious and less efficient and comprises 30 percent of the total cost to move goods.

In 2016, MPIC through MetroPac Movers Inc. (MMI), made its foray in logistics and invested P2.2 billion to acquire the assets of a group of logistics service providers including Basic Logistics Inc., a local mid-sized company.

Last year, MMI also acquired certain assets of Ace Logistics Inc. for P280 million.

Air21 is under the Lina Group of Companies which was founded by businessman Alberto Lina, who also served as commissioner of the Bureau of Customs during the time of former presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III.

It was at one time the sole Philippine licensee of United US-based logistics giant Fedex.