Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is still keen on selling up to 20 percent of the conglomerate’s tollway unit.
“Yes, [but] I think we have to look at the timing of this,” MPIC chief financial officer David Nicol said.
Nicol earlier said the company was in discussions with Chinese and European private equity companies for a possible investment in MPIC unit Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.
“They are still interested,” Nicol added.
MPIC owns 99.88 percent of MPTC, which in turn owns 75.6 percent of Manila North Tollways Corp., 46 percent of Tollways Management Corp., 100 percent of Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., 29.5 percent of Don Muang Tollway Public Co. Ltd. and 45 percent of CII Bridges & Roads Investments Joint Stock Company.
MPIC estimated the 20-percent stake in MPTC would fetch P16 billion.
Nicol said MPIC might use the proceeds of the sale to finance the P55.5-billion Cavite Laguna Expressway and other tollway projects.
MPIC unit MPCala Holdings Inc. on Tuesday submitted the higher premium bid of P27.3 billion, compared with P22.2 billion offered by San Miguel Corp.’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc.
Calax, one of the largest public-private partnership projects, involves the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a four-lane, 47-kilometer closed-system toll expressway connecting the Cavitex and South Luzon Expressway.
The P35.4-billion expressway will start from the Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEX-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.
Metro Pacific may also borrow up to P20 billion from local and foreign banks to finance the P55.5-billion Cavite Laguna Expressway project.
MPIC president and chief executive Jose Ma. Lim said at the sidelines of the stockholders’ meeting last week a number of local and foreign banks had approached the company to finance the Calax project.
“We are still discussing the funding plans. [But] it depends on the offer that we get from these banks and our internal resources,” Lim said
He added the total amount of borrowings from banks would depend on the projected traffic of Calax.
MPIC chairman Manuel Pangilinan, when asked to comment, said the bank loans could reach P20 billion.