Monday, May 07, 2007 Aboitiz power firm to lure more investors
IN LINE with plans to go public through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) this year, Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC) is set to hold an international road show to drum up investor interest.
APC is the wholly owned holding company for the electricity interests of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) Inc.
Jon Ramon Aboitiz, AEV president, said because the company plans to further establish its presence in the power industry, it needs a stronger capital infusion from the international investing community, especially from the Asian region, United States and Europe.
“We want to expand our power business,” Aboitiz said.
In an interview, he revealed that APC is looking at some hydro-plants in Manila and a 210-megawatt (mw) plant in Mindanao.
He added that the company is now developing a 42-mw hydro-plant in Davao. It will begin operations this month.
Although Aboitiz declined to divulge the targeted amount for the IPO venture, an earlier report said the company hoped to raise P8.4 billion.
The company recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a preliminary statement for the registration of 7.2 billion common shares.
Public
Of the total shares, 1.8 billion will be sold to the public.
The company recently acquired 50 percent outstanding capital stock of East Asia Utilities Corp. (EAUC) from El Paso Philippines Energy Co. for approximately P131 million and an assumption of P878 million of inter-company debt owned to EAUC.
Aboitiz Power also acquired 3,600,000 common shares of EAUC’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cebu Private Power Corp. (CPPC), representing approximately 48 percent of the total outstanding shares of CPPC for approximately P176 million.
Income
AEV’s power group, which includes the distribution utility firm Visayan Electric Co. Inc., and hydroelectric plants in different areas in the country, accounted for 61 percent or P2.12 billion of the company’s income in 2005, according to a report during its stockholders’ meeting last year. (MMM)
