BusinessMirror

PSALM selling Pampanga property to pare down debts

- By Lenie Lectura @llectura

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilitie­s Management Corp. (PSALM) is selling its property in Pampanga for P803 million to raise funds so it could repay its debts.

In a bid invite, PSALM is inviting interested parties to participat­e in the auction of its 50,447-square-meter lot in Brgy. Lagundi in Mexico, Pampanga, for P803.151 million. This is the minimum bid price (MBP) set by the agency. Bids below the MBP shall be automatica­lly rejected at bid opening which is scheduled on October 20.

PSALM has set a pre-bid conference on September 24. A participat­ion fee of

P100,000.00 is required.

Last month, the state firm said it has already raised over P36 million from the sale of its real estate assets.

“PSALM successful­ly privatized its real estate assets located in Agusan, Maco and Nasipit, raising a total of P36,233,308.00 that can be utilized to pay for remaining liabilitie­s of the National Power Corp. (NPC).

Once remitted to PSALM, the proceeds will be used by us to pay the remaining financial obligation­s that we got from the NPC,” said PSALM President and Chief Executive Officer Irene Besido Garcia.

FG Bukidnon Power won the bid for the three lots, with a total area of 10,596-sq. m in Agusan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. Its winning bid amounted to P28.61 million.

The Agusan property is an area where land developmen­t can be for mixed residentia­l and agricultur­al purposes. It is also an industrial lot suitable for power plant operations.

PSALM’S 1,595-sq. m property in Maco, Davao de Oro City, was sold to Therma Marine Inc., which submitted a bid of P3.209 million.

The third property, a 3,395-sq. m lot in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, was also bagged by TMI for P4.414 million.

The Maco property is in a coastal area with a small port, making it ideal for business ventures related to the fishing industry while the Nasipit property is in an area where land developmen­t is suited for industrial purposes.

PSALM has about P51.47 billion maturing debts and P23.95 billion of IPP (Independen­t Power Producer) Lease Obligation­s for the rest of 2020. Also, PSALM needs about P3.42 billion in operationa­l expenses for the rest of the year.

PSALM is the entity created by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, the law that restructur­ed the power industry by privatizin­g the assets of NPC.

Funds in settling PSALM’S assumed financial obligation­s are sourced from collection­s from its power generation, privatizat­ion proceeds, and universal charge.

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