Yuchengco Group joins Sangley consortium

MANILA, Philippines — House of Investments (HI), the investment holding and management company of the Yuchengco Group, has obtained the approval of its board of directors to partner with the provincial government of Cavite as part of the private sector consortium developing Sangley Point International Airport in Cavite.

This developed as HI also approved the purchase of A.T. Yuchengco Centre from its affiliate bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) for P6.065 billion as part of its long term plans to consolidate the property interests of the conglomerate.

“This is part of our strategy to realign the businesses of YGC, and strengthen the conglomerate’s position with a more holistic approach in the property development and management sector,” said HI president and CEO Lorenzo Tan.

YGC has business interests in banking, financial services, construction, education, information technology and energy HI will be part of the consortium providing equity while its construction arm Yuchengco-owned EEI Corp. will participate in the construction of the airport.

The provincial government of Cavite and its potential joint venture partner are targeting to break ground on the airport by the end of the year.

The private sector consortium comprising of local and foreign companies called SPIA Development Consortium last year submitted a $10.9-billion unsolicited proposal to develop the SPIA. Its proposal had been formally accepted by the provincial government of Cavite.

The consortium has also been awarded the original proponent status (OPS).

Local members of the SPIA Development Consortium are the Yuchengco Group of Companies, Cavitex Holdings Inc. chaired by businessman Luis Virata and Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp., which will provide management and technical services for the aviation support and logistics component of the project.

Joining them are renowned global companies Samsung C&T Corp. of South Korea, Munich Airport International GmbH, and the London-based design and engineering firm Arup Group.

The consortium earlier said they were ready to transform the airport into a premium gateway that can provide an alternative to the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

It intends to develop the SPIA in three phases, with phase 1A estimated to cost $2.3 billion, phase 1B ($2 billion) and phase 2 ($6.6 billion).