Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Psalm, US firm to close sale of Masinloc power plant
THE Power Sector and Assets Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) will sign the closing agreement with US-based AES Corp. for the full settlement of the US$930 million bid price for the 600 megawatt (MW) Masinloc coal-fired power plant.
The signing, according to Psalm president Jose Ibazeta, will be held on Wednesday at their main office in Makati City, where Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, National Power Corporation (Napocor) president Cyril del Callar and officials of AES Corp. will be attending.
From the issuance of the contract of effectivity (COE), the winning bidder is given 270 days to move to closing date and that needs putting up the 40-percent of its purchase offer of US$930 million.
AES Corp. initially paid the US$18.6 million performance bond.
Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd (MPPC), a subsidiary of AES, was the winning bidder for the Masinloc AES Corp. It has 128 power facilities in 29 countries and a total of 42,000 MW generation capacity. The company is also engaged in wind, hydro and gas power plants.
Ibazeta said the payment of AES Corp. will be used to settle the maturing debts of Napocor by 2009 and 2011.
The government is also expecting to raise US$1.9 billion this year from the privatization of Napocor assets. (MSN/Sunnex)
