By: Daxim L. Lucas 01:02 AM December
29, 2016
A unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. has
completed its acquisition of stakes in two coal-fired power plants in Bataan
province, putting the power generation firm on track toward achieving its goal
of generating 4,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in four years’ time.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange, AboitizPower said its wholly-owned subsidiary Therma Power Inc.
(TPI) completed the purchase of indirect partnership interests in GNPower
Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. (GMCP) and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD).
The selling parties are investment
funds of international fund management giant Blackstone Group L.P.
“Following the receipt of Board of Investments
and Philippine Competition Commission approvals, the parties completed this
acquisition on Dec. 27, 2016, Philippine time,” the company said, adding that
the transaction was worth $1.2 billion “subject to certain price adjustments at
closing depending on conditionalities.”
After the deal, TPI will hold
indirect effective interests held by affiliated investment funds of Blackstone
in World Power Holdings L.P. and Sithe Global Power L.P.
As a result, TPI will own a 66.1
percent effective beneficial ownership interest in GMCP and 40 percent
effective beneficial ownership interest in GNPD. The acquisition will be funded
by a combination of internally generated cash and financing from foreign banks.
GMCP is a 604-MW subcritical thermal
power plant, which started operations in 2014, while GNPD is a new project
consisting of 2 x 668-MW supercritical thermal power plant, located in Bataan.
The first of the GNPD units is currently under construction and is targeting
commercial operations in 2019.
“We welcome the government’s latest
move to clear our planned acquisition of stakes in the GNPower thermal power
plants, as we consider this an essential strategy in our commitment to securing
a balanced energy mix to support the country’s energy security,” AboitizPower
president and COO Antonio R. Moraza said in an earlier statement.
“This is also in line with our
target to increase our attributable net sellable capacity to 4,000 MW by 2020,”
he added. “We consider this acquisition very strategic as it gives us immediate
earnings from the operating asset and incremental capacity in the coming years
from the plant under construction and its expansion.”
At present, AboitizPower has
investments in various thermal and renewable power generating facilities and
maintains a balanced mix of energy sources to provide ample and reliable power
at competitive rates.
AboitizPower is the holding company
for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution and
retail electricity services.
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