Manila Water Co. Inc. subsidiary Manila Water Philippine Ventures Inc. (MWPV) acquired additional stakes in the consortium that develops and delivers bulk water supply to the Cebu province.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the acquisition involved P107.6 million.
Under the deal, MWPV acquired 107,601,639 shares of Metropac Water Investments Corp. (MWIC) in Manila Water Consortium Inc. (MWCon).
Prior to the acquisition, MWPV held 51 percent, Vicsal Development Corp with 10 percent and MWIC held 39 percent of the common shares in MWCon. After the transaction, MWPV will own 84 percent while Vicsal will have the remaining 16 percent.
The company added that acquisition of additional stakes will allow the optimization of project returns with efficient execution and operation as well as sound regulatory and stakeholder management.
Last March, the provincial government of Cebu signed an agreement with MWCon for the company to extract water from the Luyang river in the northeastern Cebu town of Carmen.
Manila Water said the move is in line with the company’s strategic direction to maximize the potential of existing business and take on opportunities for growth and expansion in Cebu and eventually, in the entire Visayas and Mindanao regions.
