GBP acquires stake in Alsons subsidiary
ALSONS Consolidated Resources, Inc. (ACR) said on Sunday that Global Business Power Corp. (GBP) is acquiring a 50% stake in Alsons Thermal Energy Corp. (ATEC), which holds the Alcantaras’ baseload coal-fired power plant assets.
“We look forward to a fruitful partnership that combines GBP’s technical competencies and strengths in the Visayas with ACR’s long years of experience in Mindanao as the island’s first independent power producer,” said ACR Chairman and President Tomas I. Alcantara said in a statement.
ACR said its subsidiary had signed an agreement with GBP, a leading power producer in the Visayas and an associate of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
ATEC owns 75% of the 210- megawatt ( MW) Sarangani Energy Corp. coal- fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani province.
Toyota Tsusho Corp., ACR’s long- time Japanese partner, will still hold a 25% equity in Sarangani Energy, the holding firm said.
ATEC will also assume ACR’s stake in San Ramon Power, Inc., which is developing a 105-MW coal-fired plant in Zamboanga City, it added.
The new partnership with Alsons presents a significant milestone for us, thru GBP, to enter the fast-growing and dynamic Mindanao market given Alsons’ proven, long-standing and successful track record in owning and operating power plants in Mindanao,” GBP Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.
Mr. Pangilinan, who also chairs MPIC, added: “This strategic acquisition is in line with MPIC’s commitment to further bolster our infrastructure investments in all parts of the Philippines.”
Sarangani Energy’s first 105-MW section began operating in April 2016. Its second 105- MW section is undergoing construction and is set to begin operating in 2019. When the full 210-MW is complete, it will serve more than six million people in population centers of Mindanao such as General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Butuan.
The San Ramon project is expected to provide baseload power to Zamboanga City and other nearby areas. It is scheduled to start commercial operations in 2021.
“We believe that this partnership will greatly benefit power consumers particularly in light of the planned interconnection of the Mindanao and Visayas grids which we strongly support. We are sure that this alliance with GBP and MPIC will make us a more formidable enterprise, more competitive and more resilient in meeting the challenges of the present and those that are yet to come,” Mr. Alcantara said.
ACR said ING Bank N.V. acted as its sole financial adviser for the transaction while law firm of Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose served as legal adviser. Macquarie Capital acted as sole financial adviser, while Puyat Jacinto & Santos Law was the legal adviser to GBP.
Aside from the coal power plants, ACR also operates three diesel plants in Mindanao to provide peaking and backup power. It is entering renewable energy with a 15-MW runof-river hydropower plant in Sarangani, which is planned to begin construction this year.
MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. —