ABOITIZ POWER’S $1.2-B PURCHASE OF GNPOWER GETS GREEN LIGHT

Aboitiz Power Corp.—through wholly-owned subsidiary Therma Power Inc.—has secured the approval of the Philippine government to acquire indirect partnership interests in GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. (GMCP) and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD).

Therma Power’s acquisition was approved by the Board of Investments and the Philippine Competition Commission on Nov. 21 and Dec. 19, respectively.

Under the arrangement, Therma Power will hold indirect effective interests held by affiliated investment funds of The Blackstone Group L.P. in World Power Holdings, L.P. and Sithe Global Power L.P.

As a result, Therma Power will own a 66.1-percent effective beneficial ownership interest in GMCP and 40percent effective beneficial ownership interest in GNPD. The proposed acquisition consideration is priced about $1.2 billion and will be funded by a combination of internally generated cash and financing from foreign banks.

GMCP is a 604-megawatt 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 scheduled to start 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 COOAntonio Moraza said in a 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.