Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) intends to purchase up to 11.2 percent share in Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), partly to ensure a resilient cash flow and in line with its mandate to invest in strategic real-economy assets.

The acquisition will be made through direct shares acquisition and a tender offer to existing public shareholders, with the latter supporting ATI’s voluntary delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), MIC said in a statement Tuesday.

MIC president and chief executive officer Rafael Consing said “the port sector is the circulatory system of the Philippine economy.”

Citing his experience in the global logistics sector, Consing was a senior vice president and chief financial officer of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI).

Consing said tenure “has reinforced the conviction that port infrastructure is not merely a business, but a strategic national asset.”

"We are deploying the Fund to capture value from critical utilities that possess high barriers to entry and a direct correlation to the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth. This ensures that our portfolio is resilient, cash-generative, and aligned with national progress,” he said.

“By securing our position in this utility, we are enhancing our sovereign capability to generate sustainable wealth, which is inextricably linked to the nation’s long-term economic security.”

The MIC, in a press release, said “by acquiring a minority stake in ATI, it ensures that the Philippine government holds a permanent economic interest in the infrastructure that powers the national supply chain.”

“MIC views this as a strategy of 'Sovereign Stewardship' —ensuring that as this key asset privatizes, the State retains a passive stake to harvest the economic yield generated by Philippine trade flows,” it said.