SMC’s Ang takes a seat in Metro Pacific board

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), now a privately held infrastructure and tollways conglomerate, has added new members to its board of directors.

They include tycoon Ramon Ang, president and CEO of San Miguel Corp., who was elected to the board on Oct. 17 following Ang’s indirect investment in his personal capacity in Metro Pacific.

MPIC has voluntarily delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange, with majority shareholders launching a tender offer of shares held by the public.

The shareholders are First Pacific Co. Ltd. through its affiliate Metro Pacific Holdings Inc., Ty-led GT Capital Holdings Inc., a consortium including Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and MIG Holdings Inc.

Mitsui and state-owned pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) now also have board seats in MPIC, industry sources said.

As a holding company, MPIC owns 47.5 percent of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco); 99.9 percent of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the largest toll road developer and operator in the Philippines; 20 percent of Metro Pacific Health Corp., the largest private hospital operator in the Philippines; and 52.8 percent of Maynilad and other assets.

SMC, for its part, has not made any direct investment in MPIC.

Ang’s investment in MPIC came after Ang and fellow tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan set aside rivalries and teamed up last May for a new tollway project that would link Cavite and Batangas.

The two business titans commenced their first tollway project together, the P72-billion, 88-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway (CBEX) and the Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway (NBEX).

The new road network effectively merges their similar but separately proposed road projects in Cavite and Batangas.

The project will likewise connect MPTC’s Cavite-Laguna Expressway to Bauan, Batangas.

Under the agreement, MPTC and San Miguel Corp. will jointly undertake the construction, operation and maintenance of the 88-kilometer-long toll road projects.

In 2018, MPTC presented a proposal for the 50.4-kilometer Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway (CTBEX) project to the Department of Public Works and Highways and was granted the original proponent status.

Similarly, SMC’s unsolicited proposal for the CBEX and NBEX was approved by the Cavite and Batangas government.

Both projects share the common goal of connecting the provinces of Cavite and Batangas through Tagaytay City.