Automatic Fare Collection: PPP project likely to go to Ayala, MPIC

THE CONSORTIUM of conglomerates Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) are likely to emerge the winners after submitting the highest offer for a P1.72-billion deal to operate a smart-card system for the Philippines’ elevated rail network.

The group, known as the AF Consortium, submitted the best bid by offering a premium of P1.08 billion on top of the cost of designing and constructing the Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) for Metro Manila.

The deal is one of several projects the government has offered to the private sector under a public-private partnership scheme to fast-track major infrastructure developments.

AF’s offer of a premium was higher by just P103,900 than that of a consortium led by the SM Group, owned by the country’s richest man, Henry Sy.

The third bidder, Comworks Inc. and Berjaya, asked for a subsidy of P2.05 billion.

Two other bidders, the group of E-Trans Solutions and a consortium of Megawide Construction Corp., were earlier disqualified by the government after they failed to meet technical requirements. The two groups said they would appeal.

"We’re very happy with the outcome ... really close bids between the SM and AF consortiums; we’ll just see after 15 days," PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao said.

The winning bidder will operate and maintain the AFCS, expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2015, for 10 years. The Transportation department will announce the final winner on Dec. 23 after it conducts a post-bid evaluation.

MPIC President Jose Maria K. Lim said his group was confident of hurdling the post-qualification process.

"Clearly, it shows an appreciation of the retail potential of the micropayments market. We were only able to bid as aggressively as we did because of the size and potential of that market," he told reporters after the bidding.

MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, in a statement, said: "This strategic alliance will create integrated solutions that will improve public transportation through our vision to transform the country’s light rail transit system into a network very much like those in Hong Kong, Singapore, and other major cities in Asia."

Ayala Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, for his part, said: "We will be leveraging the complementary strengths and assets of each consortium member, and we believe that we can help bring out the promising potential of AFCS not only as a transit fare collection method but as a broader and efficient payment ecosystem at par with global standards."

The AF Consortium partnered with MSI Global, developer of the software for the automatic fare collection system in Singapore and Bangkok, and SMRT, which currently operates Singapore’s mass transit system.

MPIC subsidiary Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, is partly owned by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Reuters with a report from LCSM

source:   Businessworld