MANILA, Philippines – The Consunji-led conglomerate DMCI Holdings Inc. is selling its 25.11 percent stake in the Tarlac-Pangasinan La Union Expressway (TPLEX) concessionaire to the San Miguel group for P1.83 billion.
The deal allows San Miguel Corp. to consolidate its interest in TPLEX – the first greenfield tollway project in its infrastructure portfolio – to over 70 percent.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, DMCI said that together with its wholly owned subsidiary, DM Consunji Inc., it had agreed to sell the combined stake in Private Infra Dev Corp. (PIDC) to SMC unit Rapid Thoroughfares Inc.
Industry sources said that DMCI, for its part, would use the proceeds for its power plant projects.
The deal will still be subject to compliance with certain conditions and regulatory approvals, including those of the Toll Regulatory Board and the Department of Public Works and Highways, pursuant to the toll concession agreement dated August 28, 2008.
DMCI’s direct interest consists of 1.45 million common shares equivalent to 24.29 percent of PIDC while DM Consunji has 49,002 shares or 0.82 percent. The consideration amounts to P1.76 billion for the parent firm and P69.84 million for the subsidiary for a total of around P1.83 billion.
SMC opened the second section of TPLEx last weekend, adding 14 kilometers of new road linking Rosales to Urdaneta, Pangasinan. This section will be toll-free until January 20. The first section of TPLEX running for around 49 kilometers until Rosales in Pangasinan was opened last April.
Section 2 of TPLEX is actually 95 percent complete now but was opened to the public ahead of full completion to ease traffic flow during the holidays. Prior to its full opening, the section will again be closed to complete the remaining 5 percent construction.
Once all sections are fully completed, the four-lane 88.5-kilometer TPLEX is seen drastically reducing travel time to Baguio and other provinces in Northern Luzon. TPLEX connects the central and northern Luzon provinces to Manila and beyond through the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). The tollroad is seen reducing road travel from Tarlac to La Union to 45 minutes from 2.5 to 3.5 hours at an average speed of 100 kilometers per hour.
TPLEX is one of the three major toll road projects that SMC intends to complete before the end of President Aquino’s term in 2016. The others are the NLEX-South Luzon Expressway connector road and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway linkage.
If completed by the end of 2015, TPLEX will run its full length by about three years ahead of schedule. The project was started end of 2013.
As administrator of the toll project, PIDC provides management services, toll collection, traffic safety and security management, toll road maintenance and other related services.
The entire length of the tollway will have nine exits: La Paz in Tarlac City, Victoria, Gerona, Paniqui and Moncada in Tarlac; Rosales, Urdaneta City, and Pozorrubio in Pangasinan, and Rosario in La Union.