The Philippine Competition Commission said Monday it approved the joint venture between Pasay Harbor City Corp. and the city government of Pasay on the 265-hectare land reclamation project in Pasay City.
Under the deal, the Pasay City government allocated rights to reclaim its municipal waters while Pasay Harbor City will fully finance all raw land reclamation works and expenses.
The transaction marked the first merger review by the commission involving a local government unit as a party to the joint venture.
Pasay Harbor City is a partnership composed of Udenna Development Corp. of businessman Dennis Uy, Ulticon Builders Inc. and China Harbour Engineering Company.
Pasay Harbor City submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop a part of Manila Bay within Pasay City’s domain.
PCC said in a decision on Sept. 26 that the transaction would not likely lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant market.
It said that a new market for commercial and residential real estate in Pasay City would rise in the reclaimed area.
Pasay Harbor City and the Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Pasay signed a joint venture agreement on the reclamation project as early as November 2017.
The project is expected to cost P62 billion once it is completed within four years from the date of approval.
PCC, the country’s anti-trust body, is mandated under the Philippine Competition Act to review mergers and acquisitions to ensure that these deals will not harm the interest of consumers.
It received 196 merger transactions by local and international companies, approved 184 of them and blocked 1 anti-competitive merger with overall value of P3.21 trillion.
Aside from PCC’s clearance, the reclamation project needs the approval of the Philippine Reclamation Authority and the National Economic and Development Authority.