Metro Pacific And Gic To Take Stake Worth $1 Billion In Indonesian Toll Road-Operator

• Deal to boost Metro Pacific Tollways' portfolio
• Investment will allow Jasa Marga to raise capital
• Jasa Marga maintains full control over JTT's assets

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By Rishav Chatterjee and Yantoultra Ngui

July 1 (Reuters) - Metro Pacific Tollways Corp MPCFF.PK (MPTC) and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC will take up a stake worth $1 billion in a unit of Indonesian toll-road operator PT Jasa Marga JSMR.JK as Asia Pacific sees growing investor interest in infrastructure assets.

The companies will take a 35% stake in Jasamarga Transjawa Tol, a network of 13 toll roads in the provinces of west, central and east Java, MPTC said in a statement on Monday.

Reuters had reported in March that a consortium led by MPTC was in advanced talks to take up a minority stake in the unit of the state-owned Indonesian peer.

MPTC is already a major toll-road operator in Southeast Asia with investments in Indonesia via Nusantara Infrastructure META.JK and Vietnam-based CII Bridges and Roads Investment LGC.HM.

MPTC said the addition of Jasamarga Transjawa Tol's toll roads will further boost its portfolio to 1,130 kilometers connecting various economic zones in the Philippines and Indonesia.

"This deal fortifies MPTC's goal to expand in Southeast Asia and enhance our infrastructure portfolio," MPTC's President and CEO Rogelio L. Singson said in the statement.

The investment will also allow Jasa Marga to raise capital, continue expanding toll-road networks across Indonesia, while maintaining full control over JTT's strategic infrastructure assets, the statement said.

The investment comes as Asia Pacific sees growing investor interest in infrastructure assets as the region rapidly urbanises, energy demand grows and its population becomes increasingly affluent and digitised.

In June, a consortium of U.S. investment firm KKR KKR.N and Singapore Telecommunications STEL.SI announced they will invest S$1.75 billion ($1.3 billion) in ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, one of Asia's biggest data centre providers.

The Jasa Marga's unit deal also adds to GIC's investment in Indonesia. Last year it bought a 33% stake in MUN, in which MPTC now holds a 60.3% stake, for $209.9 million, the statement said.

HSBC HSBA.L served as joint financial advisor to MPTC and sole financial advisor to GIC for the transaction, the statement said. BCA Sekuritas acted as joint financial advisor to MPTC.

($1 = 1.3550 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and David Holmes)

(( Rishav.Chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com ))

Keywords: METRO PACIFIC TOLLWAYS-STAKE/PT JASA MARGA (UPDATE 2, PIX)