MANILA, Philippines—Metro Pacific Investments Corp. has approved the sale of new equity shares worth up to $300 million as part of a fresh fund-raising effort to acquire a stake in the government’s P27-billion Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the country’s longest expressway.

MPIC subsidiary Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. declared its interest in the SCTEx project through a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. earlier expressed its intention to acquire a stake in the same project.

MPTC operates the North Luzon Expressway, a business acquired from the Lopezes.

SCTEx, the biggest and most ambitious project of the state-owned Bases Conversion Development Authority to date, is a major infrastructure undertaking that is expected to lead to the development of Central Luzon. The 93.77-kilometer, four-lane highway is divided into two major sections. The Subic-Clark section (Package 1) is 50.5 kilometers long, while the Clark-Tarlac section (Package 2) spans 43.27 kilometers.

In a separate disclosure, MPIC said its board had approved an equity fund-raising exercise “aimed at raising funds for future acquisitions of the company and [to broaden] the company’s investor base.”

The board approved in principle the issuance of new common shares and the listing of those shares on the PSE. The company said the number and issue price would soon be finalized.

MPIC chair Manuel Pangilinan earlier said the company would likely sell primary shares to raise up to $300 million new funds.

The MPIC board also approved the issuance of a total of 5 billion class A preferred shares in favor of Metro Pacific Holdings Inc. at par value of P0.01 per share, or a total issue price of P50 million. Holders of these preferred shares will be entitled to preferential cash dividends at the rate of 10 percent per annum, to be calculated based on the par value. Unlike typical preferred shares, class A shareholders will be entitled to vote.