Manila Water expands Vietnam presence

MANILA, Philippines—The Ayala group has expanded its presence in Vietnam with the closing of a deal to acquire a 31.47-percent interest in a water infrastructure company based in Ho Chi Minh City.

Manila Water Company Inc. said Tuesday its Singapore-based subsidiary, Manila Water South Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd. (MWSAH), has completed the acquisition of 18.37 million shares in Sai Gon Water Infrastructure Corp.

Manila Water said MWSAH subscribed to Saigon Water shares at 16,900 Vietnamese dong per share.

Based on Tuesday’s exchange rate, a share cost some P34.18 and places the deal at a total of about P627.9 million.

Sai Gon Water has been listed in the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange for a little over a year, or since September 2012.

Originally named Sai Gon Infrastructure Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Co., the firm started with dealings in construction material experiments and construction supervision as well as road and bridge construction.

In a drive to limit its activities in projects where revenue is guaranteed, Sai Gon Water in 2011 decided to focus mainly on environmental infrastructure development.

“The transaction is in line with the investment strategy of Manila Water in Vietnam and in Asia,” Manila Water said.

In an earlier statement, Manila Water said Sai Gon Water wants to become the first fully integrated company in the Vietnam water and wastewater infrastructure sector, through the construction of water and wastewater treatment plants and the provision of engineering, operation and management services and other similar activities.

This followed Manila Water’s failure, announced last July, to take over Indonesian water service concessionaire PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja).