MPTC may go public this year amid merger talks with SMC

PANGILINAN-LED Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) may push through with its initial public offering (IPO) plans this year, amid plans to merge this with the toll road business of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

“Because this business is not that complicated; I don’t see why we can’t do it within the year,” MPTC Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said. “We look forward to what regulatory approvals may be needed from Indonesia and the Philippines.”

MPTC operates the North Luzon Expressway, the Subicclark-tarlac Expressway, the Cavite-laguna Expressway, the Manila-cavite Expressway, the NLEX Connector, and the Cebucordova Link Expressway.

SMC’S expressways include the Tarlac-pangasinan-la Union Expressway (TPLEX), the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), the Skyway System and the NAIA Expressway (NAIAX).

The discussion for a possible merger between the two is still taking place, Pangilinan said.

“We are exchanging information so we will have an idea of the tollways. Looking good. On combination, it will be a significant company in the Philippines with starting EBITDA of around P50 billion. It is a significant company if you are to put two together,” the executive said.

“It is good to have a significant company for listing. One got delisted recently so we’d [need] to replace that with an operating company, a single product company; [that’s] easy to understand [as its] Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] is fairly high,” Pangilinan added.