Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. said it is ready to re-engage in discussions with San Miguel Corp. regarding the proposed merger of their respective tollway operations.
“We’d like to engage them. Because everybody’s reported their first quarter results. So, now we can go back to work,” MPTC chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
“Because if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it as expeditiously as possible,” he added.
Pangilinan said in March that MPTC had put a hold on its toll road merger talks with SMC due to the company’s ongoing efforts to secure funds for debt repayment.
The toll unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and SMC signed in August 2024 a P72-billion deal to construct two expressways south of Metro Manila.
Under the memorandum of agreement, MPTC and SMC will jointly undertake the construction, operation and maintenance of the 87.96-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway.
The MPTC Group has 240.6 kilometers of existing expressways and 43.1 kilometers under construction, with a total investment of $3.06 billion. It operates 105 kilometers of North Luzon Expressway, 94 km. of Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway and 14 km. of Manila-Cavite Expressway. It also operates 8.5-km. Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway in Cebu.
SMC’s expressways include the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), the Skyway System and the NAIA Expressway (NAIAX).
