Aboitiz unit nears P1.5-B purchase of Batangas tech park

MANILA, Philippines - The property arm of conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) is in the final stages of its P1.5-billion acquisition of a majority stake in a Batangas technology park.

The sale of Lima Land Inc. to Aboitiz Land Inc. (AboitizLand) this month will allow Mindanao-based Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) to focus on power generation projects, an ACR official said.

“The sale of the industrial park to AboitizLand is in the final stages...It will be completed within the month and target is the fourth week,” ACR chief finance officer Luis R. Ymson Jr. said in a phone interview.

Even Marubeni Corp. of Japan, which holds a 40-percent stake in Lima Land, already agreed in principle not to exercise its right of  first refusal for the share sale, Ymson said.

“We do not see Marubeni refusing the request for them to partner with AboitizLand,” he said.

In June, AboitizLand offered to buy a 60-percent stake in Lima Land to jumpstart its expansion outside the Visayas.

Lima Land is the company behind Lima Technology Center, a 485-hectare business park located in Lipa and Malvar towns in Batangas province.

Its locators are involved in various manufacturing ventures like automobile components, motorcycles, printers and plastic moldings. It currently hosts 38 locators that enjoy tax perks and employ more than 19,000 employees.

The acquisition is in line with AboitizLand’s plan of becoming a major income contributor to the Aboitiz conglomerate, which is predominantly into power generation and distribution.

In its 20-year history, AboitizLand has been in the industrial segment as the company behind the Mactan Economic Zone II in Lapu-lapu City, and the West Cebu Industrial Park.

For its part, ACR’s exit in the business park will allow it to focus on power projects in Mindanao.

“We are concentrating on the power business. We have three projects in Mindanao,” Ymson said.

“The sale of our shares in Lima Land will contribute to our large capital requirements,” Ymson said.

The Alcantara family’s ACR, through subsidiary Sarangani Energy Corp., is putting up two 105-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plants, of which the first 105 MW unit will be under a partnership with Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corp.

It is also in the advanced stages of development for the 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. coal power plant in Zamboanga City.

To date, ACR operates power generation facilities run by its subsidiaries, including Southern Philippines Power Corp.’s 55-mw plant in Alabel, Sarangani; the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. plant in Zamboanga City; and the newly revamped Mapalad Power Corp. plant in Iligan City that began operating in the first semester.

In the first half, profits of ACR jumped 26 percent to P609.8 million from P485.1 million a year ago, driven by higher earnings of its power generation and power plant management subsidiaries.