A partnership led by the Lopez-controlled First Gen Corp. is now the owner of the 60 percent stake in the geothermal firm Philippine National Oil Corp.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) after offering a bid of P58.5 billion at a public auction yesterday.
Officials said only the partnership led by First Gen and another one led by Filinvest had met the reserve price of P45.08 billion for the stake.
A total of 24 groups originally expressed interest in bidding for the PNOC-EDC stake, but only four tabled offers yesterday.
Known as the Red Vulcan Holdings Corp., the Lopez consortium consists of First Gen Corp., Icelandic group Spalmare Holding BV and Prime Terracota Holdings Corp.
“Our bid price was estimated at P9.25 per share,” said Giles Puno, First Gen Corp. chief finance officer.
First Gen, which is also bidding for several power plants held by the National Power Corp., will pay the winning bid of P58.5 billion from internal funds worth some $300 million, as well as from local and foreign bank and non-bank financial institutions, Puno said.
The Filinvest partnership had offered P48.528 billion.
San Miguel Energy, a unit of food and beverages giant San Miguel Corp., teamed up with Beleggingsmaatchappij Broem B.V. to form PanAsia Energy Holdings Inc.
Aboitiz Power Corp. was bidding on its own.
Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. and AEI Investments Inc. did not submit a final bid.
PNOC-EDC shares have risen 40 percent since it made its market debut in December last year, outperforming a 24-percent rise in the main stock market index in the same period.
The government is selling its entire 60 percent stake in PNOC-EDC, which generates power from volcanic hotsprings, to help meet its 2007 budget deficit target of P63 billion or 0.9 percent of gross domestic product.
The losing bidders are: AP Renewables Inc. owned by Aboitiz Power Corp. which has formed an alliance with Mighty River Power, New Zealand’s leading electricity generation firm; FDC Geo-Energy Holdings Inc., representing the Gotianun interests through Filinvest Development Corp., Filinvest Alabang Inc. and International Power Masinloc Holdings Inc.; and PanAsia Energy Holdings Inc., representing the partnership of San Miguel Energy Corp., Beleggingsmaatschappij Broem BV and New York-based investment firm Avenue Asia.
Trading prices closed at P6.30 per share at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), which was lower than the P7 per share the previous day.
The remaining 40 percent of PNOC-EDC is owned by various private entities, including shares of stock acquired through the initial public offer (IPO) in December 2006 and a second offer in July this year.