Ang to lead MPTC-SMC tollway giant as merger talks advance

METRO PACIFIC Tollways Corp. (MPTC) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said San Miguel Corp. (SMC) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ramon S. Ang will lead the companies’ planned combined tollway business as merger talks advance.

“(The management) will mainly be in Ramon’s (Ramon S. Ang) hands. He will be the CEO,” Mr. Pangilinan said on the sidelines of an event last week when asked about the management of the merged company.

He said MPTC is expediting merger talks with SMC as the two sides negotiate the ownership structure of the combined tollway business.

“We are trying to expedite it. Things move slowly in the country. We are just keeping pace, there is a lot of goodwill on both sides,” he said.

Mr. Pangilinan said SMC is still expected to take majority ownership of the planned joint venture, although the final stake could change depending on the valuation.

MPTC said in June that it expected the merger with SMC to be completed by the third quarter, with negotiations moving into the valuation stage.

The company previously said SMC was likely to take a 55% stake in the combined tollway business.

“But that could change from the final valuation,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

He said he remains optimistic that the merger would be completed within the year.

The proposed transaction will combine the country’s two biggest toll road operators.

Mr. Pangilinan previously said that under the latest negotiations with Ang-led SMC, the merger would cover only MPTC’s domestic assets.

MPTC’s investments in Indonesia and Vietnam will remain outside the proposed combination.

SMC, through its SMC Infrastructure unit, manages and operates the South Luzon Expressway, Skyway System, Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway), and NAIA Expressway (NAIAX).

MPTC operates the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), NLEX Connector, Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX), Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).

MPTC is the tollway arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of the Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., alongside Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., holds a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Ashley Erika O. Jose