Published
By Myrna M. Velasco
The privatization salvo
of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation this year for the
land straddled by the Manila thermal power plant ended in a “failure” as no
parties submitted offers.
So far this is the
first divestment undertaken by the state-run company under its new president
and chief executive officer (CEO) Irene Joy Garcia, which indicates then that
the new management may need to work harder in attracting asset takers.
Garcia herself declared
the public auction “a failure due to non-receipt of any bids.” The scheduled
deadline on bid submission was 12 noon last August 15.
This then prompted the
company to announce a “rebid process” for the real property asset, which was
earlier set a minimum bid price of P885.746 million.
“PSALM will rebid the
Manila thermal power plant land as soon as the roadmap for the second round of
bidding is finalized,” the company said.
Garcia emphasized that
they “will look into the reasons as to why the four (4) bidders, who initially
purchased bid documents, decided eventually not to participate in the bidding.”
In most divestment
exercises though, companies with initial interest in certain assets could end
up having dampened appetite after undertaking due diligence processes – a
reality that PSALM should have already been well oriented of.
The real property for sale
spans an approximate area of 20,975 square meters – the site of the
decommissioned Manila thermal plant previously owned by the National Power
Corporation.
PSALM qualified that “the property has a potential commercial value because of its proximity to Manila’s business district.”
PSALM qualified that “the property has a potential commercial value because of its proximity to Manila’s business district.”
It was the plant that
was first privatized on “scrap mode” in 2009 – the proceeds of which were
partly utilized to retire some of PSALM’s maturing financial obligations.
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