Razon to expand Manila Water’s reach

MANILA, Philippines — Ports and power tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. vowed to expand the operations of Manila Water Co. Inc., both locally and abroad, by capitalizing on the group’s infrastructure expertise.

Razon said he plans to “continue optimizing” the operations of the water utility firm within and outside its East Zone concession.

“Manila Water continues to deliver reliable and efficient water and wastewater services to communities in key metros in the Philippines and abroad,” said Razon, chairman of Manila Water and its parent firm Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.

“We look forward to the company’s future as we continue optimizing the business and expanding both our domestic and international operations,” he added.

Prime Infra’s Trident Water Co. Holdings Inc. acquired Ayala Corp.’s remaining stake in Manila Water last week for P14.5 billion, raising its voting stake in the water utility firm to 81.9 percent and its economic interest to 62.2 percent.

In 2022, Congress approved the 25-year extension of the franchise of Manila Water until 2047. Manila Water is the concessionaire of the government in providing water services in the East Zone service of Metro Manila and the Rizal province.

It also operates in other parts of the country as well as abroad through its two holding companies Manila Water Philippine Ventures Inc. and Manila Water Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., respectively.

Outside the Manila concession, the water utility firm operates in Isabela, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas, Aklan, Samar, Cebu and Davao. Abroad, Manila Water is present in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

“Manila Water will continue to leverage Prime Infra’s expertise and track record in business development, project delivery and operation of long-term assets in highly regulated industries and complex geographies,” Prime Infra said.

The hike in the controlling stake of Razon in Manila Water is part of his “intra-group synergy” that seeks to “capture” opportunities within its different business groups, said Prime Infra president and CEO Guillaume Lucci.

“The development solidifies Prime Infra’s market leadership in the water sector, driven not only by the performance and potential of Manila Water at home and abroad, but also by its synergy with our other majority controlled bulk water subsidiary WawaJVCo Inc.,” Lucci said.

WawaJVCo is operating Phase 1 of the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project and developing the significantly larger Phase 2 Upper Wawa Dam which is capable of delivering 710 million liters per day of raw water.

The construction of the Upper Wawa dam was already 93 percent complete at the end of February, according to Wawa JVCo. WawaJVCo said 518 MLD of the dam’s capacity would be allocated to supply Manila Water under a 30-year off-take agreement, boosting the East Zone concessionaire’s capacity by over 30 percent.