Japanese group buys 10% of MPIC’s Indonesian tollroad unit

Metro Pacific chair Manuel V. Pangilinan and chief finance officer David Nicol

The Metro Pacific group led by businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan has sold a 10.32 percent stake in Indonesian tollroad PT Margautama Nusantara (MUN) to a group of Japanese investors for $35 million (P1.8 billion).

CIIF Infrastructure Holdings San. Bhd., a unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), sold the stake to West Nippon Expressway (NEXCO-West), Japan Expressway International Co. Ltd., (JEXWAY), and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN).

“MPTC management believes that having JEXWAY, NEXCO-West and JOIN as strategic partners will significantly contribute to the growth of MUN,” MPTC’s parent conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

MPIC noted that JEXWAY and NEXCO-West were both well-known for their extensive experience and expertise in operating and maintaining toll roads, while JOIN was the first and only government-private fund in Japan that specializes in overseas infrastructure investment.

MUN operates four toll road concessions through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, in Jakarta as well as Makassar in Sulawesi Island.

Following the transaction, MPTC will continue to hold majority shares in MUN.