Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. proposes to spend $600 million to own 35 percent of Indonesia’s Jasamarga Transjawa Tol, a unit of Indonesia’s PT Jasa Marga Tbk that operates 35 toll road concessions spanning 1,809 kilometers.
Christopher Lizo, chief finance officer, said the consortium is doing the due diligence for Jasamarga Transjawa in time for the submission of a final bid by 15 January next year.
At this point, the consortium values the stake at around $1 billion at the very least.
“So that’s our anticipated participation in the project. Together with GIC our partner, it’s about $1 billion to $1.2 billion,” Lizo said.
According to him, MPTC expects the bidding to close by the first quarter next year.
If successful, Jasamarga Transjawa will be the latest addition to MPTC’s Indonesia portfolio. In October, MPTC signed a concession agreement for the development and operation of the $1.4 billion Jakarta Outer Ring elevated toll road project that will span 21.5 kilometers.
Rodrigo Franco, former MPTC president, earlier said Indonesia comprises the bulk of the company’s portfolio, attracting 1.4 million in traffic daily, compared to the Philippines’ 600,000.
Established in 2017, Jasamarga Transjawa Tol operates toll roads in West Java, Central Java and East Java, totaling 13 concessions.
It is in the mid of selling a portion of its ownership to interested bidders that include Indonesia Investment Authority.
MPTC is joining the bid in partnership with Singapore’s GIC Pte. Ltd. The Singaporean firm only this month announced buying 33 percent of MPTC’s Indonesia operating unit, PT Margautama Nusantara.
Toll revenue of now-delisted conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. grew 20 percent over nine months this year to P19.8 billion due to toll rate increases and traffic growth in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Core net income was flat at P4.1 billion due to the higher concession amortization on newly opened roads and financing cost of acquiring the Jakarta-Cikampek elevated toll road.
