METRO PACIFIC Investments Corp. (MPIC) secured an additional loan to reduce the debt of the company holding the infrastructure conglomerate’s stake in Manila Electric Co.
The local unit of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. said in a disclosure on Monday it inked a P2-billion syndicated term loan facility with a term of 15 years.
This was after MPIC signed an P8-billion 10-year and 15-year syndicated term loan facility last week.
Proceeds of the facility will be used to partially finance the redemption of the outstanding debt obligations of Beacon and other general corporate purposes.
MPIC tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corporation as arranger and book runner.
Last June, MPIC raised its interest in Meralco after acquiring PLDT group’s remaining 25% stake in Beacon for P21.8 billion.
Beacon owns 35% of the country’s biggest electricity distributor and 56% of power generation firm Global Business Power Corp.
The deal allows MPIC, which owns a direct 10.5% interest in Meralco, to hold a further 35.0% through its interest in Beacon that will boost its effective ownership interest in the power distributor to 45.5% from 41.2% and in Global Power to 56% directly and 6.4% indirectly.
Before tapping the loan for the Beacon deal, Metro Pacific sealed last month a P10-billion loan facility with BDO Unibank, Inc. and Union Bank of the Philippines to finance the company’s projects and operations.
The conglomerate had announced that it would set aside P100 billion for capital expenditures in 2018, out of the P653-billion five-year spending plan, to finance the expansion of its power, water utility, toll roads and hospital businesses.
The listed conglomerate booked P11.13 billion in attributable profit in the first nine months of 2017, 17% higher than the P9.5 billion posted in the same period in 2016. Revenues accelerated 30% to P43 billion during the same period.
MPIC is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific, along with PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining. Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
Shares in MPIC were unchanged at P6.55 apiece on Monday. — Krista Angela M. Montealegre
