New Transco head seeks revaluation of Napocor assets

The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) is likely to ask for a revaluation of the transmission assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), incoming Transco president Alan T. Ortiz said yesterday.

"We have to revisit the valuation of the assets since many things had happened," Ortiz said, adding that many factors, might be considered by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB),the financial advisor for the Napocor privatization, like the performance of the exchange rate.

Based on CSFB valuation, the transmission assets of the state-run power firm are estimated to be worth about $2.5 billion. There may be a need to review this, said Ortiz, who used to be an investment officer of Dharmala Philippines before joining the staff of Sen. Sergio Osmeña, as senior political analyst.

But Ortiz said the initiative to conduct a new valuation should come from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) which has been mandated by Republic Act 9136 or Electric Power Industry Reform Act, to handle and manage all the assets and liabilities of Napocor.

The funds that will be raised from the sale of Napocor’s assets would be used to partly repay its obligations.

Under the approved privatization scheme, the transmission assets will be placed in private hands through concession nor through a lease agreement while the generation assets will be auctioned off to interested parties.

The Transco privatization is expected to finally push through this April after several delays the original schedule was set in June 2002 but was deferred a number of times due to delays in passage of the Transco bill. — Donnabelle Gatdula