Ayala to bid for more PPP projects

Ayala Corp. is keen on participating in the bidding for a number of upcoming infrastructure projects to be auctioned by the government under the public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

Eric Francia, managing director at Ayala, said the conglomerate and its partners were preparing to bid for the Cavite-Laguna (Cala) Expressway project, the Light Railway Transit 1 (Baclaran to Cavite) extension and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport project. “We will be interested to participate in LRT-2 (extension from Santolan to Antipolo) as and when it gets bid out,” Francia said in an interview on Friday.

On toll roads, the group did not participate in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) expressway project. However, Ayala plans to bid for the Cala, a four-lane, 47.02-kilometer at-grade tollroad that will connect the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) through the Cavite and Laguna provinces.

“We are definitely interested in Cala,” Francia said. “I think it is obvious why Cala is strategic to the Ayala group—it traverses along landbanks of Ayala Land, the largest of which is Nuvali, which is where the road terminates in the Laguna side.”

The estimated project cost is $1.01 billion, of which $504.83 million is the private sector component, based on the PPP website.

For LRT-1, the Ayala group has teamed up with Metro Pacific Investments, Macquarie and foreign group RATF Development SA, which operates the Paris Metro.

The project involves the construction spanning 11.7 kilometers from the end of LRT Line 1 at the Baclaran Terminal to the Niyog Station in Bacoor, Cavite, of which 10.5 km will be elevated and 1.2 km will be at-grade. The whole stretch of the integrated LRT 1 with a total length of 32.4 km will be operated and maintained by the private proponent. Based on the PPP website, project cost is estimated at $1.25 billion.

Asked whether it will be same consortium to bid for LRT 2, he said: “For sure Metro Pacific (will be part) as we have a pan-Manila cooperation but other members have yet to be determined.”

The LRT 2 project seeks to engage the private sector to operate and maintain the existing 13.8 km line 2, which runs from the Recto Station in Manila to the Santolan Station in Pasig City, passing through Magsaysay Boulevard and Marcos Highway. The proposed 4-km extension will be from Santolan to Masinag, Antipolo.

The Ayala group has also teamed up with the Aboitiz group and American airport operator ADC&Has to vie for the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) project.

The project involves the construction of a new world-class passenger terminal building in MCIA with a capacity of about eight million passengers a year and the operation of the old and new facilities. The construction of a new world-class passenger terminal, including all related facilities, is proposed to separately cater to domestic and international operations. Estimated project cost is P8.87 billion for phase 1 and P8.65 billion for phase 2. Interested parties were given until April 22 to submit prequalification documents for the Mactan airport project bidding.