Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Firm mulls purchase of gov't share in Meralco
FIRST Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPHC) is willing to bid and match the price of the government once it decides to sell its stake in the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).
FPHC chairman Oscar Lopez said the company is monitoring developments in the government's plan to dispose of its 29-percent share in Meralco.
Manolo Lopez, chairman of the country's largest power utility company, said the Lopez Group will participate in the bidding once government puts the Meralco stake on the auction block.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves earlier said government is bent on disposing its shares in Meralco this year and that the bidding will be open to any interested bidder, including the Lopez group.
The Lopez Group and FPHC own about 17 percent of Meralco while Union Fenosa, Spain's gas and electricity company holds roughly nine percent of Meralco while the remaining shares are held by the public and other investors.
Meanwhile, Meralco's stocks reacted favorably following the release of a draft ruling of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on its application under the
performance-based regulation (PBR) rate setting scheme.
The PBR replaces the return on rate base (RORB) of distribution utilities. The PBR determines the revenue requirements of a distribution utility through the distribution utilities optimized rate base and approved capital and operation expenditures for a forecast four-year period. (MSN/Sunnex)
