SM joins Ayala, AEV for P123-B project

A super consortium that includes the SM Group, Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures is set to submit documents today signifying its interest for the P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike public private partnership project, one of its members said.

The consortium, which counted as its members some of the country’s richest families, would compete against other big players, including San Miguel Corp., and foreign players, like Malaysia’s MTD Group. A total of 24 companies earlier bought bid documents for the Laguna Lakeshore deal—the largest to be rolled out by the Aquino administration.

The submission of qualification documents at the Department of Public Works and Highways  today will show which groups are seriously bent on participating in the auction.

The SM-Ayala-Aboitiz partnership was confirmed late Wednesday by Hans Sy, president of the SM group’s property arm SM Prime Holdings Inc.

Sy, who noted that SM was “invited” to join the consortium, clarified that, as of Wednesday, the final details about the partnership would still have to be finalized.

“It’s to show people that there is so much opportunity out there. We don’t have to fight each other. We can work together,” Sy told reporters at the sidelines of an awarding ceremony by the Philippine Retailers Association.

Sy was referring to the Ayala group, with which SM appeared to be in fierce competition, particularly in the areas of property development and banking.

Recently, both groups have signaled their intention to work together, following a decision to jointly manage and develop the Ortigas clan’s flagship company OCLP Holdings.

The Laguna Lakeshore project has several key features: A 47-kilometer tollroad running from Taguig in Metro Manila to Los Baños, Laguna on top of a flood-control dike; and a reclamation component involving 700 hectares of land in Laguna lake near Taguig and Muntinlupa for “mixed-use” development.

Sy said SM was drawn to the property aspect of the project, especially land reclamation.

“That’s really our forte,” Sy said. “So when they [Ayala group] invited us, we said yes.”

The land reclamation was included to make the project more attractive to investors, the PPP Center announced previously.

Other groups have yet to signal their intent over the Laguna Lakeshore deal. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a briefing Thursday that the group was still studying whether it made sense for it to take part in the bidding.