Alsons to sell 50% stake in coal power plant to GBPC

MANILA, Philippines — Alcantara owned Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) will raise P2.4 billion from the sale of 50 percent of its subsidiary holding its baseload coal-fired power plant assets to Pangilinan-led Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC).

ACR disclosed yesterday it will sell 14.95 million shares in Alsons Thermal Energy Corp. (ATEC), which is equivalent to 50 percent, to GBPC at a price of P159.03 per share, or roughly P2.37 billion.

“Following the sale, transfer and delivery of the ATEC shares to GBPC, the issuer’s parent company financial statements will reflect a temporary decrease under investment in subsidiary while the cash item will increase substantially,” ACR said.

“The liquidity arising from the sale of a portion of its equity interest in ATEC and the underlying assets will allow ACR to invest in other projects and/or possibly reduce a portion of its debt,” the company added.

The total purchase price will be paid by GBPC to ACR on closing of the deal and a retention of P100 million will be paid after getting the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) certificate authorizing registration.

The closing of the deal requires the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission, which was secured in September.

Other requirements include obtaining the consents, approvals or other actions by certain third parties and the consent of certain customers.

ACR should also provide GBPC with certain documents pertaining to the advances to be assigned to the latter.

Last June, ACR and GBPC forged an agreement where the former will acquire a 50 percent interest in ATEC for P4.25 billion.

The deal will allow ACR to speed up its expansion into the renewable energy sector and into other parts of the country, ACR chairman and president Tomas Alcantara said.

ATEC currently holds a 75 percent stake in the 210-megawatt (MW) Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) baseload coal-fired plant in Maasim, Sarangani province while Japanese partner Toyota Tsusho Corp. (TTC) holds 25 percent.

The SEC plant’s first 105 MW section began operating in April 2016. SEC’s second 105 MW section is currently undergoing construction and is scheduled for commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2018. When SEC reaches its full 210 MW capacity in the first half of 2019, it will be servicing over six million people in key population centers of Mindanao such as General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Butuan. At a cost of nearly $600 million, the SEC power plant is the largest power investment in Sarangani province and the entire Region 12.