A BUSINESS transaction that will link the country's two biggest privately run roadways under a single ownership is bound to leave one PBA team at the crossroads.
The NLEX Road Warriors' future in the PBA has come under question since early in the year after news broke out that San Miguel Corp. is set to acquire a controlling stake in the tollway under merger talks with the MVP group of Manny V. Pangilinan.
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The questions grew louder over the past couple of weeks after Pangilinan himself confirmed that the deal with SMC, headed by Ramon S. Ang, is being fast-tracked and can be sealed as early as the third quarter of the year.
MVP also revealed that the deal - just the latest among a number of major transactions between the longtime PBA and business rivals turned allies - is looking at a 55-45 percent split in favor of the SMC group.
Once the merger is completed. Pangilinan added his friend Ang will sit as the CEO of the company that will now assume control of North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), NLEX Connector, Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX), Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) which were previously under Metro Pacific Tollways Corp (MPTC).
Those tollways will now be folded into the portfolio previously controlled solely by SMC's Infrastructure Unit, namely the South Luzon Expressway, Skyway System, Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway), and NAIA Expressway (NAIAX).
So where does that leave NLEX's PBA franchise?
A check with the PBA Commissioner's Office revealed that the league's board of governors, which is composed of a representitive each from the 12 member teams, has not discussed the impending merger in any of its recent meetings.
But league insiders, talking on the condition of anonymity, revealed four possible scenarios once the merger is completed.
1) NLEX's PBA franchise is included in the merger and, technically, falls under the direct control of Ang and the SMC group.
2) The NLEX franchise is excluded from the deal and remains in the hands of the MVP group.
3) The two sides agree to a 50-50 share of NLEX's PBA franchise.
4) The NLEX franchise is put up for sale to an outsider.
From the four options, it was Scenario No. 3 that first gained traction when unconfirmed reports emerged that the two sides have agreed to a 50-50 ownership of the PBA franchise, with the MVP group continuing to run the team.
However, such a scenario may prove problematic in the long haul since it will make the Road Warriors technically a 'half-sister' to five other PBA ballclubs - San Miguel, Magnolia, and Barangay Ginebra on the SMC side as well as TNT and Meralco on the side of the MVP organization.
That, insiders believe, should pile on more problems for a league that, since it opened the door to multiple ownerships in the 90s, have wrestled with accusations of collusion among sister teams - a malaise that has since given birth to 'Sagip Kapamilya' memes on social media.
Scenario No. 2, however, figures to be trickier to manage on the part of the league since it will create a great imbalance that will have no less than four franchises under th SMC umbrella - and as many as six if you believe the chatter on 'PBA farm teams.'
The imbalance figures to be more pronounced considering NLEX has only recently put together one of the best lineups in the league - and the best the franchise has ever had since entering the PBA in 2014 by buying the Air 21 franchise from the Lina group.
With NBA-trained Jimmy Alapag at the helm and stars like Robert Bolick, Kevin Alas, Schonny Winston and LJ Gonzales locked to longterm contracts, the Road Warriors could prove to be an alluring addition to a power-laden stable of SMC teams.
Will the MVP group let that happen?
If the answer is no, then Scenario No. 2 comes into play. That will simply mean the PBA franchise stays in the hands of the MVP group, which can then re-assign it to other companies under its umbrella like, say, Maynilad, TV5, or Cignal.
Under such a scenario, the league equilibrium will be maintained with three teams each under the control of the PBA's two most influential blocs.
How about Scenario No. 4, you might ask?
Well, regardless of what league officials say, there aren't a lot of Top 500 companies knocking on the PBA door wanting in, especially with the current state the league is in. So don't count on that happening.
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