By TED P. TORRES Updated December 10, 2008 12:00 AM
[ philstar.com ]
The Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) will provide partial financing worth P6.75 billion for an acquisition by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) into the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC).
BDO will issue a 10-year fixed rate corporate notes issue with MPIC for the acquisition of a 67.1-percent ownership interest in Manila North Tollways Corp., the concession holder of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and a 46-percent stake in Tollways Management Corp. (TMC), the operator of NLEX.
BDO is the sole noteholder while its investment banking subsidiary, BDO Capital, is the arranger and underwriter. Meanwhile, BDO Trust participated as facility agent, registrar, paying agent, collateral agent, and DSRA agent.
Total acquisition cost for the 67.1-percent stake is P12.262 billion, with the P6.75 billion coming from the notes, and the balance coming from equity and shareholder advances.
The acquisition also granted MPIC the right to operate and manage the 65.8-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) direct link between Subic Bay Free Port and Clark Economic Zone.
MPIC also acquired a 34-percent interest in Private Infra Development Corp., which was awarded the concession to extend the NLEX another 88.5 kilometers from Tarlac to Rosario, La Union, when completed in full by 2013.
Earlier, MPIC also made an outlay of between P5 billion to P6 billion as initial investment over the next five years to rehabilitate the Manila North Harbor. MPIC and Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) joined forces with equal equity spreads to rehabilitate the ports.
North Harbor’s Terminal 1 is envisioned to service roll-on, roll-off (Ro-ro) container and passenger vessels, while Terminal 2 would serve container and passenger vessels. Terminal 3 on one hand, would be for conventional, non-containerized, bulk or break-bulk vessels and passenger vessels.
The Harbour Center group was responsible for converting the former Smokey Mountain garbage dumpsite into a residential complex, and a 79-hectare industrial commercial site to what is now called the Manila Harbour Centre. The company, which has been in the business for 11 years, has plans to go public once market conditions stabilize.
MPIC is the flagship of Hong-Kong based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd.
