MPIC enters Vietnam’s infrastructure space

INFRASTRUCTURE holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. has completed a deal to acquire 45 percent of Ho Chi Minh city-based infrastructure developer CII Bridges and Roads Investment Joint Stock Co. (CII B&R).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, MPIC said its tollroad unit Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) now held a significant minority equity interest in CII B&R by buying a mix of equity and debt instruments.

MPTC bought secondary shares from CII B&R’s majority stockholder Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Company (CII) and also susbcribed to Vietnamese dong-denominated bonds issued by CII, which are exchangeable into secondary shares in CII B&R.

This deal thus marks a new partnership with CII, one of the largest private infrastructure development companies in Vietnam, with exposure in toll roads, water, real estate, and engineering and construction.

CII B&R is a tollroad company located in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam with about eight toll road and bridge projects with 123 kilometers in total portfolio. These tollroads have a combined daily vehicular traffic of 46,000 vehicles.

The five projects that are already operating are as follows: New Rach Chiec Bridge project; Phan Rang – Thap Cham Bypass (Phase 1) build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, DT741 road project, Sai Gon 2 Bridge build-transfer project and Rach Mieu Bridge (Phase 1) BOT project.

Two projects are under construction, namely: Ha Noi Highway Expansion BOT project and expansion of National Highway 1A B.O.T. Project.

CII B&R also has one project in the pipeline, the Binh Trieu 2 Bridge (Part 2 – Phase 2) BOT project, which it expects to secure within a few months.

“With CII B&R’s experience in the Vietnam toll road industry and its strength in identifying and developing new projects, MPTC believes that CII B&R is the right partner to expand its operations in the Vietnam,” the disclosure said.