Ayala gets P9-b loan to fund Batangas coal plant

Manila Standard Today
by Jenniffer B. Austria


Ayala Corp. said Wednesday a unit has obtained a P9-billion loan to finance the construction of a 135-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Batangas.


Ayala said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp., a 50-50 joint venture company formed by unit AC Energy Holdings Inc. and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., signed a loan agreement with Banco de Oro Unibank Inc., Security Bank Corp. and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.


“The loan will be used to fund the construction of the project which is expected to be operational by mid-2014,” Ayala said.


The coal-fired power plant will cost P12 billion.


Trans-Asia earlier chose DM Consunji Inc., the construction unit of DMCI Holdings Inc., to build the plant. It also plans to purchase its coal requirement from Sem-Calaca Power Corp., which is owned by the Consunji group, and import from Indonesia.


AC Energy Holdings, the holding company for Ayala group’s power generating project, recently formed joint ventures in solar and mini-hydro power. It acquired a 50-percent stake in Northwind Power, which operates a wind farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte.


Ayala earlier said it plans to build and acquire 1,000 MW of power generating assets over the next five years, which will require an investment of at least $500 million.


Ayala chief finance officer Delfin Gonzales earlier said company needed to raise new funds to finance the aggressive expansion into the power sector. The company has $200 million to $300 million in deployable funds and a capital expenditure program of P6 billion to P7 billion, which it can invest in the growing industry.


The conglomerate is also looking into infrastructure projects through the Public-Private Partnership program of the Aquino administration.


Gonzales said Ayala had been prequalified to bid for the P1.6-billion Daanghari-SLEX tollways project. The project, a 4-kilometer toll road from Bacoor, Cavite to the South Luzon Expressway, is expected to be bid out by December this year.


The conglomerate has investments in banking, telecommunications, real estate, water utility and manufacturing sectors.


Trans-Asia has obtained service contracts with potential wind capacity of 350 MW.


Share price of Ayala closed Wednesday at P295, down P11.40 from Friday’s close. Trans-Asia fell P0.02 to P1.04.