SBMA plans to sell port stake to ICTSI

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) plans to divest its 15 percent stake in a port company and sell it to its joint venture partner led by International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), according to sources.

SBMA administrator Armand C. Arreza said the divestment plan is preliminary and declined to comment on the details of the plan.

One source said ICTSI unit Subic Bay International Terminal Holdings Inc. (SBITHI) is yet to be presented a formal offer pending completion of the valuation and appraisal.

SBMA plans to divest as soon possible to avoid allegations of being in conflict of interest. SBITC is the operator of the recently-opened new container terminal 1. The source said SBMA does not want to act as a regulator of an industry where it has interest and would rather turn it over quickly to the private sector.

The move would also make competition in port operations in Subic more healthy, especially once NCT2 is bid out. But Arreza earlier said bidding for NCT2 has to be timed properly since it could potentially harm the viability and profitability of the operations of the NCT1. Demand for container traffic is not as big for a new one, so the operations of the ICTSI-led terminal could potentially suffer as well as that of the concessionaire for NCT2.