Is a 'Mega Toll Company' Coming from Billionaires Ramon Ang and Manny Pangilinan?
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Just weeks after an unprecedented partnership between erstwhile rivals Ramon Ang and Manny Pangilinan was announced, the two billionaire tycoons are already exploring ways to expand the union into a full-blown company that will list in the Philippine Stock Exchange.
In October, San Miguel chief Ang said he made a “personal investment” in Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), an infrastructure conglomerate chaired by Pangilinan that holds significant interests in tollways, power, hospitals, rail, water, logistics, and agriculture.
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On Tuesday (November 7), Pangilinan said the two business leaders are exploring expansion synergies that might result in a possible mega-toll company listing in the local bourse.
“We are looking at other areas where we can cooperate and create critical mass,” Pangilinan said in a chance interview. “If we manage to combine our two tollways, it will be a good candidate to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange [PSE]. It becomes a factor in energizing the PSE.”
SMC operates the South Luzon Expressway (Slex), the Star Tollway, the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (Tplex), the Skyway, and the Naia Expressway.
MPIC, meanwhile, operates the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), Nlex Connector, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (Sctex), the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).
If Pangilinan’s vision becomes a reality, it will be a mega-toll group that will be equally shared by the two groups and may have a public float of about “40 percent.”
“I can persuade Ramon to create significant liquidity,” Pangilinan said.
While Pangilinan is talking about listing a new company, his own holding company MPIC recently delisted from the PSE, ostensibly due to valuation issues.
