GT Capital hikes stake in Global Business Power

MANILA, Philippines - Banking tycoon George S.K. Ty’s GT Capital Holdings Inc. has increased its direct holdings in power generation unit Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC) to 51 percent through the acquisition of P2.32 billion worth of shares.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, GT Capital said it acquired a total of 66.145 million shares of GBPC at P35.13 each.

The shares purchased represented 12 percent of GBPC’s outstanding capital stock, and brought GT Capital’s direct stake in the power firm to 51 percent.

Funding for the acquisition came from a portion of the proceeds from GT Capital’s initial public offering.

GBPC aims to build around 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power capacity in the next three to five years to help augment electricity needs in Luzon. Around   200 to 300 MW of hydro and coal plants will be constructed to boost power reserves amid threats of an energy shortage in Luzon by 2017.

The additional capacity is also in line with plans to go public following the successful maiden share offering of its parent firm.

GBPC is also looking at further expanding its presence in Visayas, which has been experiencing power outages due to a lack of generation capacity to meet both the demand and reserve requirements needed by its grid.

The company currently has 633 MW of capacity in Visayas from nine power plants and another 164 MW are under construction.