Murky bidding

In August 1997, the Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) signed a concession agreement with Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) wherein the latter would provide an additional water supply of 300 million liters per day (MLD) by 2000. But MWSI’s operational and financial failure resulted in MWSS acquiring ownership of the latter’s concession. Two years ago, MWSS issued invitations for interested parties to participate in a bid to supply 300 MLD of potable bulk water from any source under a 28-year BOT scheme, but the bidding was a failure reportedly because MWSS refused to amend its excessively strict conditions. In May last year, a second invitation for bidding was held when GMA declared key infrastructure projects like water an administration priority. It’s been almost a year since the applications were tendered by bidders, but the results are still murky. Sources informed Spybiz that two of the pre-qualified entities for the project – Kintech of Taiwan and Ranhill of Malaysia – are being given preferential treatment despite the fact that they have allegedly failed to meet the necessary prequalification requirements and therefore do not deserve to be in the list. According to insiders, GMA’s instruction to fast-track the project is being made as an excuse for the sloppy evaluation work on bidders. The undue advantage seemingly given to Ranhill and Kintech is making people suspect that some powerful "padrinos" are working behind the scene – reminiscent of what happened to the Piatco and Masinloc projects, observers noted.

Visa IPO to raise billions of dollars

San Francisco-based Visa revealed plans last week to restructure its organization and go public in 12 to 18 months. Visa will undertake a series of mergers involving Visa Canada, Visa USA and Visa International to include Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa and emerge as a stock corporation, after which majority of the stocks will be offered to the public. The credit and debit card giant’s initial public offering is expected to raise $6 billion, more than twice the $2.4 billion raised by rival MasterCard with its IPO earlier in May, which could effectively make it one of the largest IPOs in US history. Visa reported total revenues of $4 billion and a net income of $325 million last year.

Nuvo rich-er with wine and beef

Restaurateur Louie Ysmael is happy that his famous Nuvo restaurant in toney Greenbelt 2 is now exclusively serving wagyu beef from Danding Cojuangco’s sprawling ranch in Australia. In an exclusive event the other night for Manila ’s top 400, Nuvo recently introduced Don Eduardo, Koala and Crowned Glory –wines grown from Cojuangco’s Gooree Park vineyards located in the heart of the Mudgeewine region, a rich fertile valley nestled in New South Wales. Nuvo is still the "in" place for Manila’s elite and stylish set, where they serve wonderful fusion cuisine and a wide choice of excellent wines.

Spyiz-mis: Erap pareho pa rin

According to a recent visitor, Joseph Estrada – in spite of being incarcerated in his own Tanay jail estate for "five years, five months and 14 days" in his own count – has remained the same all these years with his unique sense of humor. After singing a minus one rendition of the famous Julio Iglesias song, "To all the girls I’ve loved before" – the visitor asked Erap how he has managed after all these years to have loved "all the girls" in his life. To which the former president replied, in his classic "Eraption" – "I’d rather be polygamous than monotonous!"

Spy tidbiz: SM heiress in Fortune’s Top 50

SM heiress Teresita Sy-Coson makes it in Fortune magazine’s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business once again, landing at No. 46. Fortune said Sy scored it big with the opening this year of the SM Mall of Asia, one of the largest malls in the world, with foot traffic hitting record numbers. The eldest daughter of taipan Henry Sy undoubtedly inherited her father’s bullish business skills. It looks like Sy-Coson is inching her way up Fortune, retaining her ranking last year, while in 2004, she was at No. 47.

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