METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) plans to issue up to P50 billion in new shares through a private placement to raise funds for reducing its existing debt, according to its chairman.
The company is looking at a fundraising initiative “anywhere between P30 billion to P50 billion through new shares,” MPTC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said on Wednesday.
“(This is) mainly to reduce debt. It’s a private placement,” Mr. Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of the 77th Management Association of the Philippines inaugural meeting in Taguig City.
MPTC is prioritizing fundraising before proceeding with the planned merger with Ang-led San Miguel Corp. (SMC), he noted.
“This is so that MPTC is already settled,” he said.
He said the planned MPTC-SMC merger has “no definitive timeline.”
“Hopefully, within the year or next year. No definitive schedule for that yet.”
In November, MPTC President Arrey A. Perez said the company was targeting a 50-50 split in its planned merger with SMC.
He said MPTC aims to leverage its international assets, with reports suggesting a 90-10 division favoring the Ang-led SMC in the expected tollway merger.
In October, MPTC and its units, together with Singapore’s GIC Pte. Ltd., a global institutional investor, completed their investment cooperation valued at $1 billion for the acquisition of a 35% stake in PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol, a major toll road operator in Indonesia.
MPTC is the tollway subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.
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