28 Aug 2007
The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) today (28 August 2007) handed over the Certificate of Effectivity (COE) for the sale of the 600-megawatt (MW) Masinloc Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant to winning bidder Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. (MPPCL). The COE came exactly two weeks after PSALM issued the Notice of Award to MPPCL on 14 August 2007.
Together with the COE, PSALM also issued the final transaction documents for the sale of the Masinloc facility, including the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) and the Land Lease Agreement (LLA). All the documents were signed by PSALM President and Chief Executive Officer Jose C. Ibazeta on 22 August 2007, the effective date of the COE.
President Ibazeta expressed confidence that the Masinloc power facility would be operated efficiently knowing that the plant is in good hands.
With the issuance of the COE, PSALM and MPPCL are expected to complete their respective deliverables within 60 days from the effective date for the closing of the transaction.
Part of MPPCL's deliverables is the Performance Bond which should be delivered to PSALM within 10 days of the COE's effective date. The Performance Bond amounts to 2% of the bid price less land rentals.
The COE, together with the APA and LLA for the Masinloc plant, was received by Mr. Matthew Bartley, authorized representative of MPPCL in simple handover rites held at PSALM's Makati office. Bartley, who is also the managing director for Business Development of AES Transpower Pte Ltd, was joined by the consortium's other representatives, including Mr. Naveed Ismail, head of AES Pakistan, Mr. Yogesh Tiwari, Mr. Yari Miralao, Mr. Rohit Gokhale and Mr. Jasper Camacho.
"We'll be working in the next two months to close the transaction and operate the plant as if it was built yesterday," Mr. Bartley said.
MPPCL is a limited partnership established in the Philippines to invest in, acquire, finance, complete, construct, develop, improve, operate, maintain and hold power production and electric generating facilities in the country. Its parent company is AES Corporation which is listed in the New York Stock Exchange.
On 26 July 2007, MPPCL posted the highest offer of USD930 million for the Zambales-based power facility, in a bidding wherein all the bid offers exceeded the USD650-million price ceiling set by the government.
Masinloc was bid out with a transition supply contract covering around 265 megawatts (MW).
The specific consents of the National Power Corporation's major creditors - the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation - for the sale of the Masinloc power plant were obtained by PSALM in 2006.
The Masinloc plant is the ninth government power asset that has been successfully privatized by PSALM. This translates to 1,075.4 MW operating capacity, or 24.8% of the 4,335.70-MW aggregate capacity of all generating plants in Luzon and the Visayas.
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |