MVP unit hikes stake in Indonesian toll road firm

The toll road arm of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. has accumulated a near-controlling stake in PT Nusantara Infrastructure Tbk, giving it a wide footprint in Indonesia’s toll road sector.

According to Metro Pacific, its toll road subsidiary Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) now controls 47.08 percent of PT Nusantara, whose expressway assets span some 34.47 kilometers that connect key areas such as an airport, seaport and business districts. Its toll roads, water, energy, port operations and telecommunications provide services to more than 103 million customers, 550,000 households, 103 million vehicles, more than 210 vessels, and connecting millions of people through communications.

PT Nusantara is also involved in other businesses. It has telecommunications tower operations, port operations, water and energy units.

Despite its diversified interests, MPTC CEO Rodrigo Franco said PT Nusantara was still mainly a toll road company, hence the decision to tap Metro Pacific’s toll road company for the transaction.

“Bulk of their revenue is still coming from toll roads,” he said
in an interview. Franco said they were open to increasing their stake to a potential controlling position, but that would depend on future talks with the company’s management moving forward.

MPTC reached its stake after indirectly acquiring another 42.25 percent, Metro Pacific told Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday. The deal was valued at around P6.9 billion. MPTC had an existing minority stake in PT Nusantara, which was only acquired recently, Franco explained.

The acquisition fits into what Pangilinan earlier described as the company’s “Pan Asean” strategy. Indonesia is also a country where one of Metro Pacific’s owners has deep roots. Metro Pacific is a unit of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., whose major shareholder is the Salim family of Indonesia.