Tycoon Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Tops Bid For $3 Billion Manila Airport Deal

09.02.2024 - 15:44 / forbes.com

A consortium led by billionaire Ramon Ang’s San Miguel submitted the highest bid to upgrade the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Philippines’ main international gateway.

The group—which includes South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corp—offered the government an 82.2% share of NAIA’s revenues. The Department of Transportation will evaluate the bids and announce the winning bidder next week, the agency said in a conference streamed live on its Facebook page on Thursday.

A consortium that includes India’s GMR Airports International, House of Investments and Cavitex Holdings offered 33.3% revenue share to the government. The Manila International Airport Consortium—comprising Aboitiz Equity Ventures, billionaire Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global, Ayala Corp, Filinvest Development, JG Summit and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan’s Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp—offered a 25.9% share.

The Philippines is tapping the private sector to rehabilitate NAIA—which has been voted the world’s worst airport a few times by the travel website Sleeping In Airports—to ease the government’s fiscal burden. The winning bidder will spend about 170.6 billion pesos ($3 billion) to upgrade and operate the congested airport.

“Our aim is to elevate NAIA to world-class standard, ensuring an exceptional experience for all travelers with first-rate services and facilities,” Ang, president of San Miguel, said in a statement.

The project involves almost doubling the airport’s annual passenger capacity to 62 million and a 15-year concession contract that can be extended by another 10 years. NAIA—which handled 48 million passengers in 2019 prior to the pandemic, well above its 33.2 million capacity—has been struggling to cope with burgeoning air traffic. In January 2023, a power failure forced the cancellation of more than 300 flights and stranded more than 65,000 passengers.

Ang said there are potential synergies between NAIA and the 740-billion-peso New Manila International Airport that San Miguel is developing in Bulacan province, about 44 kilometers north of the existing airport.

“Our vision is to create an integrated airport network that not only improves the travel experience but also supports sustainable economic growth and elevates the Philippines as a prime hub for tourism, business, and investment in the region,” Ang said.

Ang—who acquired most of his San Miguel shares from the late tycoon Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. in 2012—is also the vice-chairman and CEO of one of the Philippines’ oldest conglomerates. He transformed the company from a brewer and food manufacturer into one of the country’s most diversified businesses with interests in real estate, oil refining, power generation and infrastructure. He has a net worth