Published
Zamboanga City Electric
Cooperative, Inc. (Zamcelco) has finally awarded the investor–management
contract of the Zamboanga City’s electric distribution to the joint venture of
Crowninvestments Holdings, Inc. and Desco, Inc.
The joint venture
clinched the deal during the fourth and final bidding to the tune of
P2.5-billion with both Crowninvestments and Desco confident they can help
revive the ailing electric cooperative and manage it in the most professional
manner.
Under the deal, the
joint venture will manage its operations for 25 years. The joint venture said
it was convinced that its bid can help Zamcelo pay all its existing obligations
and upgrade the facilities to avoid power interruptions.
The joint bid of Desco
and Crowninvesments Holdings was almost five times higher than the earlier bids
of Comstech-Meralco JV which withdrew from the contract with Zamcelco earlier
this year.
The electric
cooperative is saddled with over P1.5-B debt to its power suppliers − PSALM,
San Miguel, Alsons and other.
The first and second
biddings were declared failures due to no parties showing interests in bidding
at a floor price of P800 million. The third bidding had a different story when
Aboitiz Power Ventures withdrew from the bidding in December 2017, leaving
Meralco-Comstech to enter into a negotiated agreement with ZAMCELCO.
At a negotiated amount
of P550 million to be pumped into ZAMCELCO, the Meralco-Comstech JV likewise
withdrew from the IMC concession that paved the way for a fourth bidding.
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