MVP group to bid for more PPP projects

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) might bid for at least three more airport and railway infrastructure deals up for grabs under the Aquino administration’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program, its chair, Manuel V. Pangilinan, said.

Pangilinan said the company remained interested in the bidding for projects even after placing an aggressive offer for the 45.5-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), which MPIC, through its tollroad arm, is likely to win.

“We will still look at other PPP projects,” Pangilinan told reporters following MPIC’s annual stockholders’ meeting Friday.

He said MPIC would be evaluating bids for provincial airport deals for the New Bohol, Bacolod-Silay, Iloilo, Davao Laguindingan gateways, the Light Rail Transit Line 2 in Metro Manila and the 653-km North South Commuter Railway line that would link the capital with parts of Bulacan province and Albay.

MPIC, a major player in the power, tollroads and healthcare business, has already won two PPP deals with partner Ayala Corp.

In 2014, both MPIC and Ayala bagged the automated fare collection system, which will implement a smart card ticketing system for Metro Manila’s railways, as well as the LRT-1 Cavite expansion project.

Metro Pacific, through unit MPCALA Holdings, edged out rival San Miguel Corp. with a P27.3-billion offer for the Calax deal, which is set to open by 2020. This was more than double its P11.33 billion offer in the first bidding round in 2014. That amount is a premium offer and will be paid on top of the tollroad’s P35.4-billion construction cost.

Pangilinan said they would be evaluating offers from various domestic and foreign banks related to the Calax, which will be a four-lane expressway that will also connect Cavitex and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) of San Miguel and the Manila Cavite Expressway of Metro Pacific.