YNN Pacific eyes Malaysian partner for Masinloc project

YNN Pacific Consortium Inc. may tap a Malaysian partner to help in financing the purchase of the 600-megawatt (MW) Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales, industry sources said

This as the government has reportedly allowed the consortium another three-month extension to pull through with the upfront cash payment of $223 million.

The sources said the unnamed Malaysian partner being eyed for the project already has a presence in the Philippines, but is basically involved in oil and gas exploration.

Among the Malaysian firms that have existing interests in the country’s oil and gas exploration include Phil-Mal Energy Corp. with partner Ranhill Energy Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of WTK Holdings Inc., and Petronas Carigalli.Other Malaysian firms that have earlier signified interest to invest in the privatization of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) assets are Tenaga Nasional Bhd, YTL Power Generation and Powertek Bhd.

The government has earlier given the YNN group, the winning bidder of the Zambales-based coal-fired facility, until yesterday to pay the upfront cash of $223 million or else its $11.14-million performance bond posted by the consortium will be forfeited.

The performance bond of YNN, on the other hand, will expire on August 2006 after the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. allowed a four-month extension of the bond issued by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. which was supposed to lapse on April 7 this year.

YNN had reportedly been having second thoughts in paying the upfront cash after it raised a number of concerns, including political uncertainties that could affect its investment in Masinloc.

The Masinloc plant is the biggest power facility privatized by the government so far, fetching a total value of $562 million.

The YNN Pacific consortium consists of YNN Holdings controlled by Filipino investors and Great Pacific Financial Group of Australia.