San Miguel Corp. (SMC) says it expects to finalize the proposed merger for its expressway business with Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) “very soon.”
“We will finalize it very soon. Maybe in the next few months,” Ramon S. Ang, president and chief executive of San Miguel said.
Ang said he has not yet agreed to include MPTC’s Indonesian toll operations in the deal.
“I don’t know the details so I can’t agree. But Indonesia is a promising economy, $1.7 trillion GDP [gross domestic product]. They are 3 or 4 times bigger than us. I think it should be good [the Indonesian tollway],” he added.
MPTC earlier said the planned IPO in the third quarter would be delayed until 2025 because of the possible merger with San Miguel’s toll road business.
The toll unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and San Miguel signed in August a P72-billion deal to construct two expressways south of Metro Manila.
Under the memorandum of agreement, MPTC and SMC will jointly undertake the construction, operation and maintenance of the 87.96-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway.
The MPTC Group has 240.6 kilometers of existing expressways and 43.1 kilometers under construction, with a total investment of $3.06 billion.
It operates 105 kilometers of North Luzon Expressway, 94 km. of Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway and 14 km. of Manila-Cavite Expressway. It also operates the 8.5-km. Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway in Cebu.
SMC’s expressways includes the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), the Skyway System and the NAIA Expressway (NAIAX).
Ang, in his personal capacity, also invested in MPIC after it was delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange.
MPIC vowed to list its other toll road, water and hospital subsidiaries in the succeeding years. Aside from these businesses, MPIC also has investments in power generation, agriculture, real estate, railway and logistics.