MPTC remains keen on Cavitex takeover
METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) has offered the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) P2.5 billion to buy out its residual interest in the Manila-cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex).
Rogelio Singson, the company’s president, said MPTC intends to “follow the spirit of publicprivate partnership” (PPP) by fully taking over Cavitex, which is a joint venture between Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. (CIC) and the PRA.
Currently, the PRA operates and maintains the expressway through the Public Estates Authority Tollways Corp. (PEATC), but these requirements are being subcontracted to the CIC.
“We have submitted an offer four times,” Singson said in a press briefing.
According to MPTC CFO Christopher Lizo, the group submitted a P2.5-billion offer to buyout PRA in 2023.
“It’s a standing offer. Unfortunately, they never replied on the offer, but if they did of course we are willing to negotiate with them on the offer. It’s something that we want to pursue,” he said.
Currently, the two groups have a 90-10 revenue share in favor of CIC. Their Toll Operation Agreement mandates CIC to build and fund Cavitex’s 24-kilometer stretch and the PRA to operate and manage the tollway.
Singson said their deal also provides that the revenue share will be adjusted to 60-40 after the construction of the whole three segments of the Cavitex and after the payment of CIC’S loans.
To build the whole Cavitex—r1 Expressway, R1 Extension, and C5-link Expressway—the MVP Group is investing P25 billion in total, with two more segments of the C5 Link still to be fully constructed.
Lizo said the group’s total outstanding loan stands at P7 billion with plans to raise another P4 billion to build the two remaining segments of the C5 Link.
“The condition to shift on the revenue share is conditional on us recovering all of our investments and loans being paid. We have obligations to the lenders to pay the loans,” Lizo said.
The two remaining segments are Segment 2 and Segment 3B. Segment 2 is expected to be completed this month, while Segment 3B will start construction in May.
PEATC OIC Dioscorro Esteban Jr. has filed a petition for mandamus before the Court of Appeals (CA) to takeover CIC with his private lawyer earlier being quoted as citing issues on revenue sharing.
However, for Singson this case should have been handled based on the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with the PRA. MPTC, he said, believes that Esteban “does not have any authority to file such a case of mandamus without a PEATC Board approval.”