Aboitiz Power buys into Batangas ecozone distributor

MANILA, Philippines - Aboitiz Power Corp., the power generation arm of the Aboitiz Group, has bought into Lima Utilities Corp. (LVC)  an electricity distribution utility operating inside the Lima Technology Center in Batangas.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Aboitiz Power said the acquisition is part of the company’s move to expand its EnerZone brand.

“The acquisition of the shares in Lima Utilities Corp.’s is in line with Aboitiz Power Corp. strategy of expanding its EnerZone brand,” the company said.

Aboitiz has in its portfolio the Subic EnerZone Corp. (SEZ), which is an electric distribution utility managing the power distribution system of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. SEZ commenced commercial operations in October 2003.

In its disclosure, Aboitiz Power said it acquired eight million shares in LUC from Lima Land Inc.

“The agreed enterprise value of LUC was derived by utilizing the commonly used valuation methods: discounted cash flows method and transaction and trading multiples analyses,” Aboitiz Power said.

 â€œThe seller, Lima Land, Inc. is 100-percent owned by Aboitiz Land Inc. (AboitizLand). AboitizLand is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., the parent company of Aboitiz Power Corp.,” Aboitiz Power also said in its disclosure.

Lima Land used to be owned by the Alcantara Group and Marubeni Corp. of Japan but AboitizLand bought the company last year.

Lima Land is the owner and operator of the 485-hectare Lima Technology Center, an industrial park registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

The industrial park is located in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas.

Aboitiz Power has a capacity of about 2,300 megawatts. It hopes to expand this by about 2,000 MW over the next five years.

The additional 2,000 MW will come from the planned 300-MW coal-fired power plant of subsidiary AP Therma South Inc. in Davao, which is targeted to be completed next year with plans to expand it by another 300 MW; the 300-MW-coal fired power plant of Therma Visayas which will be put up in Cebu and which could be expanded by 150-MW in the next couple of years; the planned expansion of the Pagbilao coal plant in Quezon which would add 400 MW; and the 153.1 MW Naga plant in Cebu, which Aboitiz Power  recently bagged in an auction conducted by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM.)