August 23, 2024 [Reuters]- Owners of Philippine Tank Storage International are seeking to bring a strategic investor into the company that runs the biggest petroleum products import storage facility in the country, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Singapore’s Keppel Infrastructure Trust and Philippine conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) are weighing the deal that could potentially value the asset at up to $500 million, one of the people said.
Keppel Infrastructure Trust declined comment. MPIC did not respond to Reuters requests seeking comment.
Keppel Infrastructure Trust and MPIC announced in December 2020 that they acquired Philippine Tank, the company that owns Philippine Coastal Storage & Pipeline Corp, for around $334 million, according to statements at that time.
Keppel Infrastructure Trust and MPIC currently each hold 50% indirectly in Philippine Coastal, with Keppel Infrastructure Trust having one more voting share than MPIC, according to Keppel Infrastructure Trust’ 2023 annual report.
The owners are having early discussions with potential investors and have not decided how much of a minority stake they would sell, the people added, declining to be identified as the discussions were private.
The new investment will be used for the company’s business expansion and realize value of the asset, said one of them.
Keppel Infrastructure Trust counts Singapore’s state investment company Temasek (TEM.UL) as its biggest shareholder, while Manila-listed MPIC is majority owned by First Pacific Co’s Metro Pacific Holdings Inc, LSEG data showed.
Philippine Coastal operates the petroleum storage and pipeline facilities of the former U.S military bases, Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base, according to its websites.
Its 160-hectare facility includes a marine terminal, fuel storage tank farms and tank truck loading facilities.
The storage and handling facility can now hold a total of 6 million barrels of petroleum and petroleum-related products, its website showed.
Philippine Coastal’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization has grown by 40% to $34.4 million since Keppel Infrastructure Trust’s acquisition in January 2021, Keppel Infrastructure Trust’s 2023 annual report showed.
Its tank utilisation rate hit almost 100% as at end-December 2023, up from 66% in 2021, the report showed.
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