METRO PACIFIC TOLLWAYS Corp. (MPTC) is expected to shell out $600 million if it wins the bidding for a toll project in Indonesia, a company official said.

MPTC Chief Finance Officer Christopher Daniel C. Lizo said during a recent media briefing in Tokyo, Japan that the company, along with Singapore’s GIC, are jointly bidding to acquire a portion of the Trans-Java toll road in Indonesia.

“Assuming we win the project, potentially the requirement from MPTC is about $600 million. That is our anticipated participation in the project. Together with GIC, our partner, it is about $1 billion to $1.2 billion. Of course, we can’t say the price yet because it’s subject to bidding,” Mr. Lizo said. 

“The toll project that we are busy on is our intention to acquire a portion of the Trans-Java toll road in Indonesia. It is being bidded out by Jasamarga Trans-jawa Tol, state-owned enterprise in Indonesia and the biggest toll road operator in Indonesia,” he added.

Based on MPTC’s presentation, the due diligence for the bidding is ongoing until December, with the submission of the final bidding offer set on Jan. 15 next year.

The signing of the winning bid is aimed at the first quarter of next year, while the closing and funding of the bidding is by the second quarter.

MPTC has investments in Indonesia through PT Nusantara, whose operations consist of toll roads, ports, water, and energy generation and distribution.

The Pangilinan-led company is the biggest toll road developer in the Philippines. Some of its tollways include the North Luzon Expressway, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Cavite-Laguna Expressway, and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.

In the nine months to September, MPTC logged a flat core net income of P4.1 billion due to higher concession amortization on newly opened roads and financing cost on the Jakarta-Cikampek Elevated toll road in Indonesia, which was acquired in the second half last year.    

The company’s toll revenues improved 20% to P19.8 billion led by higher toll fees and traffic growth in the Philippines and Indonesia.   

MPTC is the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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