MANILA Water Co., Inc. on Wednesday said that it had signed a 15-year term loan facility of up to P27 billion with BDO Unibank Inc. to finance the acquisition of WawaJVCo Inc.
In a disclosure, the East Zone water concessionaire said the loan would cover 92.97 percent of the acquisition price of WawaJVCo.
Manila Water last June said that it had inked a term sheet to purchase 100 percent of WawaJVCo from Prime Infrastructure Inc. and minority shareholders.
The deal was valued at P37.8 billion.
In August, the company said that an initial payment of P6.11 billion would be made on Dec. 15, 2025, with the final installment to be made on January 30, 2026.
Closing conditions of the deal were said to have been completed at the end of September last year.
WawaJVCo was established to develop, operate and maintain the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project, a critical infrastructure initiative designed to augment Metro Manila’s raw water supply.
Its asset portfolio includes the Tayabasan Weir, located in Antipolo, and the Upper Wawa Dam, in Rodriguez, both located in Rizal province.
The two facilities have a current contracted capacity of 518 million liters per day (MLD) and additional available capacity of up to 200 MLD.
Manila Water said last year that the acquisition would be “financially accretive” for the company and was aligned with its “long-term water security plans for Metro Manila’s East Zone.”
It added that WawaJVCo would strengthen Manila Water’s operations through an integrated approach to water distribution within its network.
WawaJVCo has a 30-year bulk water supply agreement with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and Manila Water.
Manila Water shares on Wednesday slipped by P0.10 to close at P39.90 apiece amid a 0.77 percent rise for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.
