Citra-SMC consortium to raise P1 B for tollway projects

MANILA, Philippines - The Citra-San Miguel Corp. (SMC) consortium that controls and operates the Metro Manila Skyway and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) or business trust listing in the Singapore exchange to raise $1 billion in fresh capital for its big-ticket infrastructure projects in the Philippines and Indonesia.

But Shadik Wahono, chief executive officer of the Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC) said that the study of the fundraising options was ongoing.

Possible implementation of the plan could be by late next year or 2014.

The fundraising activity was estimated to raise $700 million to $1 billion.

Wahono revealed the fundraising plans yesterday in a press briefing.

Wahono showed the bright prospects for the SLEX, the Skyway, and the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) which the Citra-SMC consortium is also eyeing for full control acquisition; as well as the new projects of the consortium led by the Citra PNCC Alignment-SMC (Skyway CPA-SMC) that will extend the Skyway to link with the North Luzon Expressway in Quezon City via an elevated expressway.

Also at the briefing were Eugene Park, director of Padma Funds, the controlling shareholder of Citra, and Ramon Borromeo, CEO of Citra unit Skyway O&M Corp. (SOMCO), operator and maintenance contractor of the Skyway.

Park said the IPO plans are still at an early stage and stressed there were many ways that Citra and SMC can go about the IPO listing.

“The IPO plans are still in an early stage. We’re also considering a business trust listing in Singapore. We’re not yet sure which option to take,” he said.

“It depends on how we want to structure it,” Park said.

Wahono said Citra and SMC can form a new holding company to combine their toll road assets in the Philippines and Indonesia, or list their joint venture company Atlantic Aurim, Inc., the vehicle under which Citra and SMC controls SLEX, Skyway and their stake in STAR.

Citra and SMC recently formed a joint venture firm Atlantic Aurim Inc., where Citra has a 54 percent stake and SMC 46 percent, and which has secured control over the Metro Manila Skyway, the SLEX, and the STAR.

The consortium’s big-ticket project for 2013 that will entail huge capital is the Skyway CPA-SMC, envisioned to be a 14.2-kilometer extension of the integrated skyway system that Citra will construct from Buendia in Makati City to Balintawak in Quezon City.

SMC-Citra said the alignment was just part of the four-stage, 30-kilometer Metro Manila skyway project package approved by the government in 1995.