MANILA, Philippines — Expressway giant Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) may sell new shares this year to secure as much as P50 billion, as it looks to trim its debt in preparation for an eventual merger.
MPTC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan yesterday said the company is eyeing to raise from P30 billion to P50 billion in 2025 through the sale of new shares.
Afterward, the company plans to use the proceeds for debt payments, as it rearranges its balance sheet to gear up for a landmark merger.
Currently, MPTC is negotiating the merger of its toll roads with former rival San Miguel Corp. (SMC). As announced, the objective is to combine the assets of MPTC and SMC’s tollway unit to create an infrastructure giant that would be traded publicly.
However, Pangilinan said this dream may have to wait to give MPTC enough time to build up its finances back to health. Based on its financial statement, MPTC owes P153.21 billion to creditors as of 2023, and this could have gone up with fresh borrowings in 2024.
Pangilinan said the fundraising is a first step toward cutting the debts, underscoring that MPTC is in no rush to merge its tollway assets with SMC.
“We are prioritizing the fundraising of MPTC so that the company is settled (before the merger). I don’t know when the merger (will materialize). Hopefully, within the year, or next year, but no definitive schedule for that,” Pangilinan said.
Right now, the merger is in the preliminary stage where the parties have exchanged only surface data on their financial standing.
MPTC last year expanded its tollway network by signing a $1-billion deal for a 35 percent stake in PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol. Jasamarga manages a 676-kilometer segment in the Trans-Java Toll, considered an economic jewel for facilitating an average of 850,000 vehicles a day.
To date, MPTC operates a toll portfolio of 1,130 kilometers covering projects in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. Given this, MPTC outpaces SMC’s toll assets in terms of total length if foreign expressways are to be included in the merger.
In the Philippines, MPTC handles the North Luzon Expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Manila-Cavite Expressway, Cavite-Laguna Expressway and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.
SMC runs the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, Skyway System, STAR Tollway, South Luzon Expressway and NAIA Expressway.