NLEX seals purchase of Air21

NLEX will be making an appearance in the 40th PBA Season after all.

The member of the group of companies of tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan finally sealed its purchase of the Air21 Express, and will be fielding the core of that squad to the Philippine Cup as the Road Warriors when the next season opens on Oct. 19.

The sale—and the accompanying approval of the board—came yesterday with board chair Mon Segismundo of Meralco making the announcement.

Segismundo also said that at least three more companies are knocking on the door.

A listed amount of P100 million was reportedly paid by Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the owner of NLEX, to Air21, though many believe that NLEX paid more.

NLEX was earlier given an expansion franchise where it was supposed to pay the league P100 million, like what Ever Bilena (Blackwater) and KIA Philippines paid for.

But the Road Warriors, who have won five of the first six conferences of the D-League, didn’t want to enter the pro loop with a whipping boy image and asked to buy Air21 so they could take the core of the Express and be competitive right in their first year.

No one would confirm the exact amount that NLEX paid, but there have been whispers that the MVP-owned company paid as much as P260 million to make the deal happen.

Lito Alvarez, the board member of Air21, refused to answer phone calls of the Inquirer at presstime.

It was also Alvarez who told the Inquirer a few weeks ago that they “are willing to sell if they offer us an amount we can’t refuse” and that they will just re-apply for an expansion franchise in the next season or so.

But some influential members of the board told the Inquirer that if Air21 would re-apply for a franchise, the “board will most likely turn that down because we know that they (Air21) made money in selling their franchise.”

“And the board doesn’t like that,” they said.