21 Dec 2009
The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation recently received three awards from the renowned Asset Magazine in recognition of PSALM's effective and diligent implementation of its power privatization and liability management programs.
The honor was bestowed by the publication's 2009 Triple A Regional Awards, an annual event that recognizes institutions and individuals that have made a significant contribution to the development of the finance industry in Asia. The Triple A Awards is considered the most prestigious in the financial sector because of its rigorous assessment process.
PSALM bagged awards in the Best Deals and Best Issuers categories.
"I am proud to be part of this great team," said PSALM President and Chief Executive Officer Jose C. Ibazeta. "This recognition is yet another testimony to our faithful practice and observance of our corporate core values of professionalism, respect, teamwork, excellence, transparency, and integrity."
In the Best Deals division, PSALM's USD1-billion debut bond offering in the international credit market in May 2009 was acclaimed as "Best New Bond." Six times oversubscribed, the offering attracted around USD5.7 billion in demand, with 208 foreign investors participating in the transaction. An estimated 55% of the bonds were allocated to Asia, 17.5% went to Europe, while 27% were booked in the US. The book runners for this offering were Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Morgan Stanley.
Under the same category, PSALM received the "Best Privatization" award for its sale of the 25-year concession contract to manage and operate the country's transmission grid through the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) on 12 December 2007. On 14 January 2009, PSALM formally turned over the TransCo concession to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) composed of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp., Calaca High Power Corp., and State Grid Corp. of China. The NGCP remitted USD987.5 million to PSALM as its upfront payment for the operation of the transmission system. The amount comprises 25% of the USD3.95-billion purchase price to acquire the concession contract. The financial advisers for the TransCo privatization were NM Rothschild and ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners. As mandated, PSALM has utilized the privatization proceeds to liquidate the government's power sector debts.
In the Best Issuers Category of the awards given by Asset, a publication that since 1999 has built a solid reputation for delivering authoritative and unbiased coverage and independent research of Asia's financial industry, PSALM was named "Best Issuer" in the public sector for successfully completing its two bond offering transactions in May and in November 2009.
The November deal consisted of a new cash offering and a bond exchange offer that were intended to efficiently manage the government's power sector liabilities.
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |