‘Merging tollway franchises of SMC, MPIC an easy task’

Tycoon Ramon S. Ang, a party to the tollway merger talks between San Miguel corp. (SMC) and Metro Pacific Investments corp. (MPIC), has dismissed the merger of congressional franchises as “inconsequential.”

ang, in a recent interview, said this portion of the deal is an easy task, given that the two groups have “good intentions.”

“the Congressional franchise is irrelevant. If you have good intentions, it’s easy to approach the government—the leadership of Congress and Senate,” he said in the vernacular.

SMC, led by ang, and MPIC, chaired by businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, have separate congressional franchises to operate their toll businesses. Should they push through with the merger, the groups will have to consolidate their franchises into a unified franchise.

ang said a swift conclusion to the deal within the next few months, prioritizing operational synergy over bureaucratic details.

“We are building tollways separately and he proposed for us to merge all of our assets so that travel will be more seamless in the whole of luzon and in Metro Manila. So, we will finalize this very soon—maybe in the next few months.”

ang noted that he has employed a “cautious approach” towards including the Indonesian tollways unit of MPIC in the merger, citing the need for a thorough evaluation before committing.

“the reason why I am unable to agree to including Indonesia in the deal right off the bat is because I haven’t seen the Indonesian tollway. But Indonesia is a promising economy with a $1.7-trillion GDP. they are what, three, four times bigger than us? I think it should be good—the Indonesian tollway—i just want to see the details first before we agree.”

the merger plans were first announced in november 2023, with Pangilinan saying that it holds strategic significance, as both entities boast profitable tollway ventures across the Philippines and neighboring countries.

MPIC’S tollway interests extend to Indonesia and Vietnam, while SMC ’s operations are exclusively within the Philippines.

the Pangilinan-led toll titan operates the north luzon expressway (nlex), nlex Connector, Subic-clarktarlac expressway, the Manilacavite toll expressway, the Cavitelaguna expressway, and Cebu-cordova link expressway.

Meanwhile, SMC operates the South luzon expressway, the Star tollway, the tarlac-pangasinan-la Union expressway, the Skyway, and the naia expressway.

Despite the challenges, both ang and Pangilinan separately expressed optimism regarding the potential synergies and market opportunities that the merger could unlock — including its potential to “energize the Philippine Stock exchange.”