Aboitiz Equity eyes $80M from sale of treasury shares

Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV), the investment holding company of the Aboitiz family, expects to raise around $80 million (roughly P4.4 billion) from the sale of its treasury shares proceeds of the sale will be used to bankroll the expansion of its power generation and banking units and finance new investments.

AEV president and chief executive officer Jon Ramon Aboitiz said the company is merely waiting for a better time to implement its planned issuance of 890 million shares through a secondary offering.

The shares to be issued will represent 15.6 percent of AEV’s ouststanding capital stock after the offering. The issuance, he said, could be implemented in tranches.

Aboitiz said other proceeds from the offering will be used by the company to finance its possible participation in the privatization program of the National Power Corp. (Napocor)

AEV has likewise signified interest to buy sub-transmission assets from state-run National Transmission Corp. (Transco).

AEV has teamed up with Norwegian company SN Power Invest AS to jointly bid for and develop hydroelectric power projects in the Philippines.

SN Power is focused on the development, investment and operation of hydroelectric projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

AEV, through subsidiary Hedcor Inc., is the largest private mini-hydro developer in the Philippines with over 25 years of experience in the field and has control over P3.3 billion worth of hydropower generation assets.

AEV has consolidated all its hydropower generating subsidiaries under Hedcor to cut costs and enhance efficiency.

AEV is building three new plants in the Visayas-Mindanao area estimated to cost between $300 million and $500 million. These include a 200-megawatt coal-fired plant in Cebu and two hydro power plants in Davao.

The two new plants to be put up in Davao will have a combined capacity of 76 megawatts. Construction of the first plant, with a capacity of 46 megawatts, will begin early next year.

For the Cebu coal power plant, AEV has invited Mirant Phils. Corp. and Korean Electric Philippines Co. (Kepco) as partners.

The plant is expected to be operational by 2008.

Among Hedcor’s assets include 19 hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of 113 megawatts.

The plants supply clean energy to customers in Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Pampanga and Davao.

Also forming part of these assets are the four Talomo Plants that were acquired and turned over by the government to AEV in January 2005.