Let’s talk, SMC asks CIAC

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Corp. (SMC), which acquired a majority stake in Philco Aero Inc., is asking Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) to resume and accelerate their long-delayed negotiations for the $177-million Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) Terminal 2 Project.

Philco Aero, which used to be a privately held Filipino-Korean consortium, is the original proponent of the DMIA T2 project. Its unsolicited proposal for this multimillion-dollar venture was accepted by the CIAC board on May 17, 2010.

SMC has put up a holding company, which recently acquired 70 percent of Philco Aero, to conclude a transaction that began early last year.

Penson and Company Inc., SMC’s partner in the venture, will own 30 percent of the holding company.

After a meeting with SMC officials on Wednesday, Philco Aero president and CEO Ricardo L. Penson disclosed that SMC was keen on advancing the long-delayed negotiations with CIAC for the T2 project as “the delay is causing undue inconvenience to the public in general and to the public-private partnership efforts of the Aquino administration in particular.”