SMC raises P20B for Bulacan airport, MRT7 projects

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) raised P20 billion from its preferred share sale, mainly to finance its investments in two big-ticket infrastructure projects.

In an emailed statement, SMC said it successfully sold 266,666,667 Series 2-J preferred shares to retail, institutional, and trading participants of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The shares were priced at P75.00 each with a dividend rate of 4.75% per annum, as part of the initial tranche of the company's shelf registration of up to 533,333,334 preferred shares with the corporate regulator.

"We are very happy with the outcome of this offering," SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in the statement.

"There's a lot of optimism riding on a recovery in 2021 and while there is still some reason for caution, investors are confident enough that we can deliver on our commitment to build back better and pursue projects that are crucial to the recovery and future growth of our country," he added.

The proceeds from the initial tranche, SMC said, will be used for investments in projects of existing business, particularly the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan, and the Metro Rail Transit Line 7.

To recall, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in August 2019 formally awarded the contract to build and operate the Bulacan airport project to San Miguel Holdings Corp., the infrastructure unit of SMC.

Both parties signed the concession deal for the New Manila International Airport on September 18, a month and four days after SMC received the notice of award for the contract.

Meanwhile, the then-Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), along with private concessionaire Universal LRT Corp. BVI Limited, broke ground for the MRT7 project in April 2016.

As a public-private partnership (PPP) project, the 25-year concession agreement also entails the development of an integrated system including a 22-kilometer highway from the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Bocaue Interchange and an intermodal transport terminal next to the San Jose del Monte Station.

Once operational, the line is expected to ferry between 300,000 to 850,000 passengers per day, with room for capacity expansion to accommodate future increases in ridership. It will be connected to LRT-1, MRT-3, and the Metro Manila Subway at the Common Station in North Avenue.

SMC has businesses involved in beverage, food and packaging, fuel and oil, energy, infrastructure, and real estate. Its product portfolio covers beers, spirits, non-alcoholic beverages, poultry, animal feeds, flour, fresh and processed meats, dairy products, coffee, various packaging products, and refined petroleum products.

Its subsidiaries include Ginebra San Miguel Inc., San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc., SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., SEA Refinery Corporation, San Miguel Holdings Corp., and San Miguel Properties Inc.—AOL, GMA News