Meralco, GBPC alliance to cement power presence in Luzon, Visayas

by Lenie Lectura - May 31, 2016
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/meralco-gbpc-alliance-to-cement-power-presence-in-luzon-visayas/

THE new alliance between the Manila Electric Co. (Meralo) and Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), a power-generation firm owned by George Ty, will further cement their presence in Luzon and the Visayas and, possibly, in Mindanao in the future.

“My sense is Meralco will focus largely in Luzon and GBPC will focus in the Visayas and, potentially, Mindanao,” Meralco President Oscar S. Reyes said. “At this point in time, we are not privy to what they are planning.”

After the stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday, Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said both firms will “focus on the Visayas and, hopefully, make our entry into Mindanao in the power sector, because the incoming president is from that particular area.” Reyes said there could be more synergies between the two aside from sourcing power from GBPC. “Moving forward, I think we have to respond to each others’ needs. We haven’t really looked at what further synergies might be available, but we will cooperate to enable us to bring down the costs of power generation and transmission.”

First Pacific Co. Ltd.’s associate, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc., through wholly owned subsidiary Beacon PowerGen, last week signed an agreement with GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Metrobank Group to acquire 56 percent of GBPC for P22.6 billion. Beacon Electric owns a 35-percent stake in Meralco. “The purchase of additional shares in Beacon Electric by MPIC [Metro Pacific Investments Corp.] is a logical step to consolidate First Pacific Group’s infrastructure and energy interests under MPIC,” First Pacific Managing Director Pangilinan said.