MPTC to raise P30 B in Q4

The tollway arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is raising P30 billion in the fourth quarter to fund the construction of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAx) and Cebu-Cordova Bridge.

“We are raising funds. We are raising debt financing by the fourth quarter of this year,” Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president Rodrigo Franco told reporters on the sidelines of the Euromoney Philippines Investment Forum yesterday.

He said the CALAx and Cebu-Cordova Bridge projects would each get P15 billion from the total funds to be raised by borrowing from a local bank.

MPTC is looking to start construction for the two projects by next year.

MPIC through MP CALA Holdings Inc. was awarded the CALAx project under the public- private partnership program last year as it emerged as the top bidder.

The CALAX involves the financing, design and construction, operation and maintenance of the entire four-lane, 44.63 km closed-system tolled expressway connecting Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway or Cavitex and South Luzon Expressway.

The Cebu-Cordova Bridge, meanwhile, was bagged by MPIC unit Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) after no other firms offered proposals for the Swiss Challenge for the project last year.

The deal involves construction as well as operations and maintenance of the 8.25- kilometer Cebu- Cordova Bridge, which will take off from Cebu South Coastal Road crossing the Mactan channel to Mactan Island.

Upon its completion, the bridge is seen to address the worsening traffic in the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and Mandaue Bridge between Mactan and Cebu.

In a related development, Franco said MPTC also expects to receive the notice of award from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the North Luzon Expressway ( NLEX) - South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Connector Road this week.

This, even as there are issues on whether the group would need to put the connector road project under a special purpose corporation (SPC) as proposed by the Department of Finance.

“We already explained our case that we think it’s not necessary to have an SPC,” Franco said.

He said creating