PricewaterhouseCoopers to serve as financial adviser for Philpost sale

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been selected as financial adviser of the government for the privatization of the Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost), the only postal operator in the country.

This developed as the Department of Finance revealed that the Cabinet privatization committee has accepted the valuation range for the government’s stake in the Philippine National Construction Co. (PNCC), clearing the way for its sale in early June.

The DOF revealed over the weekend that it has awarded the contract to PricewaterhouseCoopers after an open bidding where a total of eight companies made a bid for the contract.

Finance undersecretary Eric Recto told reporters over the weekend that PricewaterhouseCoopers will handle both phases of the privatization process – from valuation to actually drawing up a privatization plan for Philpost.

Since Philpost has a monopoly on postal distribution in the country, Recto said the company would attract buyers provided the government could package the asset well.

Recto said the target is to be able to sell Philpost this year although he said much of the process would depend on the outcome of the valuation and the privatization planning.

The government has been planning to privatize Philpost since the Estrada administration but the plan never took off. At the time, it was estimated that the sale of the company’s assets and shares would generate at least P1 billion in proceeds for the government.

Philpost is the only postal corporation in the country, with an employee base of about 17,000. Despite the absence of competition, however, the company has been posting losses over the last three years.

On the other hand, Recto said the privatization of the PNCC has been tentatively scheduled for June this year. "We’re only tying up some loose ends, all the policy decisions have been made," he said.

According to Recto, the financial advisers have already submitted their valuation of the PNCC shares and the range has been approved by the privatization committee. He said the indicative price would be based on the valuation submitted by the advisers.

Recto said the privatization plan should be ready for publication after a month of "tying up the loose ends" that were required prior to the actual privatization of the company.

PNCC was formerly the National Development and Construction Co. (NDCC) before it was foreclosed by government financial institutions (GFI) after it defaulted on its loans.