Transco remains attractive to foreign investors, says Gonzaga

The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) remains optimistic that there will be other investors that can be tapped for the privatization of the company.

Transco president Asisclo Gonzaga made this statement in reaction to reports that National Grid Plc., one of the interested bidders for the Transco privatization, pulled out its business in the Philippines.

Gonzaga, who just arrived from Spain, said a number of Spanish have indicated a keen interest and have in fact expressed a desire to take a look at Transco.

For one, he said Red Electrica, one of the biggest electric utility firms in Spain, indicated its interest when Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez went to Spain on an investment mission with President Arroyo early this year.

According to Gonzaga, Red Electrical had even said that it would be tapping other investors to form a consortium to vie for control of the transmission assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor). Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, all the transmission assets of Napocor will be transferred to Transco, which in turn will be managed by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

The Transco chief said they have not been formally informed by National Grid about the pull out.

"There are no firm commitments from National Grid. There are no agreements yet. They just expressed their interest. Everybody can do that. They have the right to do what they want. It’s a business decision," he said.

National Grid, which has been in the country for a number of years, is one of those that have signified interest to join the Transco bidding. It even submitted an unsolicited proposal to conduct the Transco privatization through concession or lease management scheme which it said is one of the common practices abroad.

Aside from National Grid and Red Electrica, other firms that have signified keen interest to bid for Transco include: Transpower New Zealand Ltd., Kyushu Electric Corp., Electricite de France, Singapore Power, Hydro Quebec, Kansai Electric, among others.

The Transco privatization is expected to push through in April 2003, after it was delayed for the nth time. It was originally slated in June 2002 but this was moved due to the lack of some legislative measures needed for the Transco sale. – Donnabelle Gatdula