Sy, Campos, Ang team up for TransCo bidding

Prominent businessmen Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp., Henry Sy Sr. of the SM Group and Joselito Campos of Unilab are teaming up for the bidding of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said yesterday.

In a letter to the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), PSALM said the group forms part of a consortium that was among those pre-qualified to join the TransCo bidding on Dec. 20.

PSALM said the businessmen will control the consortium through Triratna Holdings Corp. with a 60-percent stake. Its partners are Tenaga Nasional Berhad (five percent) and Newbridge Asia IV L.P. (35 percent).

Tenaga Nasional is a state-owned Malaysian power company which is one of the first entities that have signified interest in TransCo some years back, while Newbridge is a US-based investment group.

A second consortium eyeing TransCo, is composed of Citadel Holdings Inc. (60 percent) and Terna SPA (40 percent). The group is represented by Rogelio Singson.

Citadel is the investment vehicle of Delgado family, engaged in exports, logistics and transportation while Terna SPA is one of the biggest power companies in Italy involved in the production and transmission of electricity for domestic and industrial use.

The last pre-qualified group consists of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. (60 percent) and State Grid Corp. of China (40 percent). Monte Oro is represented by Walter B. Brown. State Grid is the largest transmission firm in China while Brown is the chairman Philex Mining Corp.

PSALM named the three bidders for the country’s sole transmission arm after completing the evaluation of their respective prequalification proposals submitted last Sept. 28.

The prequalification group composed of PSALM and TransCo technical teams conducted the evaluation based on stringent technical and financial criteria that each group adequately met.

"Our financial criteria ensure that the technical partner, the prequalifying Filipino investor and foreign investor are all financially healthy," PSALM president Nieves L. Osorio said.

The three bidders for the TransCo concession must have a member or affiliate with experience in operating and maintaining electricity transmission systems comparable to that of the Philippines, with at least 6,000 circuit kilometers, a minimum 6,000 megawatts peak demand and a voltage level of 115 kilovolts (kv) to 230 kv.

At the same time, the member of the prospective bidder who meets the technical prequalification criteria must have a net asset value or market capitalization of at least $500 million.

The Filipino investor must have a net asset value or market capitalization of at least $300 million, or must be able to present a bank opinion that the Filipino group can fund equity investment of not less than $300 million.

The foreign investor must have a net asset value of at least $175 million, or present a bank opinion that it can fund equity investment of not less than $175 million.

The prequalification process is the second stage of the entire bidding procedure for the TransCo concession. In this phase, the prospective bidders submit their proposals to PSALM for review and validation.

Osorio said this is to ensure that only serious bidders with proven domestic or international experience and expertise as a leading transmission system operator will be qualified to participate in the formal bidding.

The TransCo privatization process officially started on May 28 with the publication of the invitation to express interest, prequalify and bid. The pre-bid conference will be held on Nov.20 to give prospective bidders the opportunity to clarify issues and concerns.