The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT-1) operator Light Rail Manila Corp’s (LRMC) P24-billion loan facility was recently awarded Best Project Finance Deal of 2016 in the 10th Annual Alpha Southeast Asia Best Deal and Solution Awards.
LRMC is the joint venture of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. and Ayala’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (AC Infra) and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd.
The 15-year loan facility, which was arranged by SB Capital Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., and RCBC Capital Corp., will finance the LRT-1 Cavite extension project and will also be used for the rehabilitation of the existing LRT-1 system.
The award was conferred by Alpha Southeast Asia, the first and only institutional investment publication focused on the Southeast Asia region.
The loan facility was signed in February this year, together with lending banks Security Bank, Metrobank, and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
According to LRMC, the LRT-1 Cavite extension project will extend the current endpoint of the system in Baclaran to Niog in Bacoor, Cavite. Under this 11.7-kilometer project, eight more stations will be added: Aseana, MIA, Asia World, Ninoy Aquino, Dr. Santos, Las Pinas, Zapote, and Niog.
LRMC has also commenced its rehabilitation initiatives for the train line, including the replacement of rails, restoration of elevators and escalators, and the refurbishment of the 20 existing stations.
The award will be presented to LRMC in a regional awards luncheon in Malaysia on January 25, 2017, where other awardees from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam will also be recognized.