The tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s (MPIC) planned initial public offering (IPO) will be pushed back to 2025 as it needs to finalize the joint venture agreement with San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for the tollways business.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) was ready for an IPO in the third quarter of this year after MPIC was delisted at the Philippine Stock Exchange but “because of this merger (with SMC), it will be delayed a bit,” Rogelio Singson, MPTC president and chief executive officer, told reporters at the NLEX Transport forum on Wednesday.
Singson said MPTC and SMC are finalizing the plan whether the IPO will be done by MPTC alone or with SMC.
“That’s what we don’t know. We hope, that would be bigger,” he said.
Singson said the IPO is now being eyed in 2025.
The two companies will engage a third-party assessor or financial advisor.
MPTC units include NLEX Corp., MPT South and Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp.
Last August, MPTC sealed an agreement with SMC to jointly undertake the construction, operation and maintenance of 88-kilometer-long toll road projects.
This will encompass two vital expressways: the 27.06-km Cavite-Batangas Expressway that will establish a crucial link connecting the Calax Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange to Nasugbu, Batangas; and the 60.90-km Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway that will provide seamless connectivity from Nasugbu to Bauan, Batangas.
Manuel Pangilinan, MPIC chairman, earlier said the company is in talks with SMC to combine their two expressway businesses and list on the stock exchange.
“We are giving up at least 40 percent of our joint equity in the tollway company,” Pangilinan said.
Aside from tollways, MPIC is looking at other areas to cooperate.
