Meralco takes over Clark power firm

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has intensified its efforts to improve services by taking over the operations of Clark Electric Distribution Corp. (CEDC).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Meralco said it acquired full control of CEDC through a dacion en pago (payment in kind) deal with subsidiary Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp. (Miescor) involving a total of 561,000 common shares at a book value of P100 per share equivalent to 65 percent of the Pampanga-based distribution firm.

CEDC, the sole electric distribution company in the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga, is a joint venture between Angeles Electric Corp. and Miescor.

Wholly-owned by Meralco, Miescor is primarily engaged in infrastructure, consulting, management, maintenance and development of large-grade construction projects.

CEDC has been providing electrical services since 1997 and currently serves more than 1,000 customers, consisting mostly of large industrial companies at the economic zone.

Since it was formed in December 1973, Miescor has chalked up an exemplary record of engineering performance backed up by a pool of highly competent technical manpower.

Meralco, on other hand, has a franchise area which covers 9,337 square kilometers covering 25 cities and 86 municipalities where the country’s prime business districts and industrial estates are situated.

This franchise services 20 million people, roughly a quarter of the entire Philippine population of 84 million.

Meralco’s service area, equivalent to only about three percent of the country’s total land area, produced almost 49 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 with around 31 percent from Metro Manila alone.

It sold 25.1 billion kilowatthours of electricity in 2006 to its 4.3 million customers in the commercial, industrial and residential sectors.

Aside from its core business of electric distribution, Meralco, through strategic alliances and partnerships, is also involved in industrial construction and engineering, business process reengineering, power generation, information technology consultancy, e-business, energy-related solutions, real estate development, energy management, customer focused training solutions, shareholder value creation and corporate social programs.