Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the tollway arm of conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), is in talks with local and foreign banks to raise about P45 billion to finance its debt.
The fundraising is expected to be completed by next year or before the planned initial public offering (IPO) in 2025 and aims to reduce its debt level.
“The general outlook is we need to raise money to reduce our debt level,” Rogelio Singson, MPTC president and chief executive officer, recently told reporters.
MPTC, which operates North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex), Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), NLEX Connector and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, has the biggest loan in the MPIC group with a current debt level of about P145 billion to P150 billion, said Singson.
“Our debt is P150 billion, we want to raise 30 percent (of the debt), about P45 billion,” he added.
When asked if the fundraising will be through bond issuance, he said, “I don’t know, but we need to raise to (reduce the) gap in our debt level before the IPO.”
The company was ready to launch its IPO during the third quarter but delayed this to 2025 as it needs to finalize its joint venture agreement with San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for the tollways business.
MPTC and SMC signed a deal to jointly construct and operate two major expressway projects costing P72 billion that will connect Cavite and Batangas.
Under the memorandum of agreement, both firms will design, build and operate the 87.96-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway (CBEX) and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway (NBEX).
The 27.06-km CBEX will establish a crucial link connecting the Calax Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange to Nasugbu, Batangas.
The 60.90-km NBEX will provide seamless connectivity from Nasugbu to Bauan, Batangas.
Meanwhile, MPTC unit MPCALA Holdings Inc. has allocated P11.9 billion for 2024 to 2025 to finance the completion of Calax and Cavitex C5 link projects.
Its investment in the next two years is lower than this year’s P13 billion budget, as most of the projects were substantially completed.
For Calax, three more sections are under construction in the portion of Cavite: Subsection 3 from Governor’s Drive to Silang interchange, Section 2 from the Open Canal to Governor’s Drive interchange, and Subsection 1 from Kawit to Open Canal.
Construction for the remaining portion of the Calax Cavite segment continues in full swing, the company had said.
The next interchange will be a 7.9-km 2×2 lane expressway that will extend from Silang (Aguinaldo) interchange to Governor’s Drive in General Trias.
