MVP open to setting up toll road firm with RSA

Ramon S. Ang (L) and Manuel V. Pangilinan | PHOTOS: Official facebook page of Ramon S. Ang and Official website of FPLA.com.ph

MANILA  -Tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan is open to establishing a publicly listed joint venture (JV) tollway company with fellow billionaire Ramon S. Ang after recently teaming up for a P72-billion toll road project in Calabarzon.

Pangilinan, on the sidelines of a press briefing in Makati, told reporters that the 88-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway (CBEx) and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway (NBEx) project with San Miguel Corp. (SMC) was hopefully a “prelude” for more collaborations between the country’s biggest conglomerates.

“Ramon is a very pragmatic business person,” he said.

Asked if Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) wanted to form a JV with SMC that could go public, Pangilinan said: “I think we should move in that direction.”

“If we managed to combine our two tollways, it will be a good candidate to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) it becomes a factor to energizing the PSE,” Pangilinan said.

Earlier, Pangilinan said MPIC was preparing to launch an initial public for toll unit Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC)—the first among series of fund-raising activities as the conglomerate seeks to list its major subsidiaries.

READ: MPIC eyes public listing of toll road unit after PSE exit

MPIC, to recall, exited the local bourse after conducting a tender offer.

In August, MPIC and SMC inked a memorandum of agreement to design, build and operate the CBEx and NBEx, which are slated for groundbreaking next year.

READ: Rivals to allies: Ramon Ang to invest in MVP-led Metro Pacific

The toll roads will traverse Silang, Amadeo, Tagaytay, Indang, Mendez and Alfonso in Cavite and will link motorists to Nasugbu and Bauan, Batangas.

MPTC has a portfolio including the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), NLEx Connector, Calax, Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.

SMC, meanwhile, holds concessions for South Luzon Expressway, Skyway, Naia Expressway, Star Tollway and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

Last month, Ang joined the MPIC board after making an “indirect investment” but no other details about the transaction size were disclosed.

MPIC is engaged in energy, water, railway, hospitals and agriculture, apart from infrastructure.