Twenty-one investor groups have expressed interest in bidding for the 25-year concession to operate the Philippines' power grid, a government agency said Monday. The applications were received before the August 24 deadline expired, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM) said.
Nine are from the Philippines, nine from other Asian countries and the rest are from Spain, the Netherlans and Britain, PSALM president Jose Ibazeta said without giving any names. In July, food and beverage group San Miguel Corp said it was planning to team up with Malaysian utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd. to bid for the power grid, currently owned by the National Transmission Corp (TransCo).
TransCo's assets were previously estimated to be worth over 2.7 billion US dollars.
San Miguel, which is 20 percent owned by Kirin Holdings of Japan, plans to invest about 750 million dollars, equivalent to a tenth of its total assets, in new businesses such as power generation and transmission, mining and infrastructure.
At the auction in February for the 25-year license to run the power grid, only one group submitted a formal offer, forcing the government to cancel the auction.
Ibazeta said draft transaction documents would be made available to the biders later in the week, and they have until September 21 to submit all pertinent documents.
He said among the key criteria would be experience in operating and maintaining an electricity transmission system which requires a minimum of 6,000 megawatts at peak demand. Interested firms must also have a net asset value or market capitalisation of not lower than 500 million dollars, Ibazeta said.
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