THE Consunji-led DMCI Holdings Inc. is selling idle assets to fund its equity participation in the ambitious Tarlac-La Union Expressway Project (TLUTE).

In an interview Friday, Isidro A. Consunji, DMCI president, said his company has already identified some property assets and is now in talks with potential buyers. The sale, he said, could generate them around P1.5 billion in proceeds.

The amount to be raised will be more than enough to finance DMCI’s 34-percent stake in Private Infra Dev Corp. (PIDC), the winning proponent for the P15.18-billion TLUTE project.

“We joined this project because we believe Filipinos are competent to do a large-scale undertaking such as this,” Consunji told reporters.

 PIDC is a consortium of Filipino private contractors which, apart from DMCI, also include First Balfour Inc., DM Wenceslao and Associates Inc., CM Pancho Construction Inc., RD Policarpio and Co. Inc., JV Angeles Construction Corp., JE Manalo and Co. Inc., New Kanlaon Construction Inc., EEI Corp., and Rockford Development Corp.

First Balfour, which is a member of the Lopez group, also owns 34-percent equity in PIDC, while the balance is distributed among the other participating companies.  

 TLUTE, to be undertaken via the build-transfer-operate (BTO) scheme with the Philippine government, involves the construction in two phases of the 88.5-kilometer, four-lane expressway from La Paz in Tarlac to Rosario in La Union.

Construction will begin this September and is up for completion in 2012. Once completed, travel time from Manila to Baguio will be reduced from six  to three hours with a safe speed of 80 kph.

 “It will also enhance super regions’ competitive advantage, as well as stimulate economic growth and development. It will also provide faster and effective access for agricultural products from the north to the major population centers in Luzon,” said PIDC chairman Rogelio Murga in another interview.

Following the TLUTE’s completion, the land title will be transferred to the Department of Public Works and Highways.  After which, a toll operating agreement will be signed for a 35-year concession contract that can be extended for 15 years.

Of the total project cost, 57 percent, or P8.59 billion, will be financed through loans and 24 percent or P3.68 billion from equity. The remaining 19 percent, amounting to about P2.91 billion, will be provided by the government in the form of a subsidy.

On Friday the consortium invited local and foreign banks and investment houses to participate in the financing of TLUTE. PIDC targets to have the financial closing for the project in December.

THE Consunji-led DMCI Holdings Inc. is selling idle assets to fund its equity participation in the ambitious Tarlac-La Union Expressway Project (TLUTE).

WITH the earlier valuation of the independent power  producer (IPP) contracts, government-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) projects to generate more than $13 billion in proceeds from the privatization of the said contracts.

LISTED Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc. reiterated that it did not violate any rule and that their mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) for nickel mining in Palawan was rightfully secured after obtaining the consent of indigenous communities through Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) and Olympic Mines and Development Corp. (OMDC).

IN COMPLYING with the Biofuels Act of 2006, Petron Corp., one of the country’s refiners, might have to tap foreign ethanol suppliers in the meantime that its supposed supplier will have the completion of its ethanol processing plant delayed.

LANDCO Pacific Corp. will not contest the suspension of the development permits of its huge 200-hectare development in the hills of Cebu City, after getting the blame for a flood downhill which displaced some 10 families last week.

DAVAO CITY—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) estimates to fly 1 million passengers in the next 12 months of operation of the new missionary routes it opened using its newly acquired turboprop aircraft.

AT CURRENT rates of food production, the increase in population will outstrip hikes in food production by 2050, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).