Sources say that the Philippines' largest oil import storage company is seeking a strategic investor.

Two people familiar with the matter have confirmed that the owners of Philippine Tank Storage International want to bring in a strategic investor for the company, which runs the largest petroleum import storage facility of the country.

One person said that Singapore's Keppel infrastructure Trust and the Philippine conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) were weighing a deal which could value the asset up to $500,000,000.

Keppel Infrastructure Trust declined to comment. MPIC declined to comment.

Keppel Infrastructure Trust & MPIC announced that in December 2020 they had acquired Philippine Tank, which owns Philippine Coastal Storage & Pipeline Corp., for approximately $334 million.

According to Keppel Infrastructure Trust 2023 annual report, MPIC and Keppel Infrastructure Trust each own 50% of Philippine Coastal indirectly, but Keppel Infrastructure Trust has one more vote than MPIC.

The owners have begun discussions with potential investors, but they are still unsure of how much minority stake to sell. They declined to identify themselves as the talks were private.

One of them said that the new investment would be used to expand the business of the company and maximize the value of the asset.

LSEG data revealed that Singapore's Temasek is the largest shareholder in Keppel Infrastructure Trust, while Metro Pacific Holdings Inc. of First Pacific Co., a subsidiary of First Pacific Co., owns a majority stake in MPIC, based on a Manila stock exchange.

According to their websites, Philippine Coastal operates petroleum storage and pipelines of former U.S. military bases Subic Bay Naval Base (Naval Base) and Clark Air Force Base (Air Force Base).

The 160-hectare site includes a maritime terminal, fuel tank farms and loading facilities for tank trucks.

According to its website, the storage and handling facility is now able to store a total 6 million barrels containing petroleum and petroleum products.

Keppel Infrastructure Trust 2023 Annual Report shows that since Keppel Infrastructure Trust acquired Philippine Coastal in January 2021 the earnings of Philippine Coastal before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization have grown by 40%, to $34.4 Million.

The report shows that the tank utilisation rate in China reached almost 100% by end-December 2023. This is up from 66% at the same time in 2021. Reporting by Yantoultra NGi in Singapore and Neil Jerome Morales, Manila; editing by Kane Wu and Raju Gopikrishnan

(source: Reuters)