Global Business Power Corp., a unit of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Group, is acquiring a 50-percent stake in Alsons Thermal Energy Corp. of Alsons Consolidated Resources Corp. for P2.377 billion.
Alsons disclosed to the Philippine Stock exchange on Tuesday it sold 14.9 million shares equivalent to a 50 percent stake in ATEC for P159.03 apiece.
“Following the sale, the issuer’s parent company financial statements will reflect a temporary decrease under investment in subsidiary while the cash item will increase substantially,” Alsons said.
Alsons said the liquidity arising from the sale of a portion of its equity interest in ATEC and the underlying assets would enable it to invest in other projects or possibly reduce a portion of its debt.
ATEC own a 70-percent stake in Sarangani Energy Corp., 100 percent of ACES Technical Services Corp. and 100 percent of San Ramon Power Inc.
Alsons “will gain a strategic partner for the coal power plant projects it owns, and future energy projects it will undertake through ATEC,” the company said.
The partnership is seen to greatly benefit power consumers with the combined technical competencies and strengths of GBPC in the Visayas and Alsons’s long years of experience in Mindanao as the island’s first independent power producer, especially in light of the planned interconnection of the Mindanao and Visayas grids.
The parties recently signed the shareholders’ agreement for the joint venture. An investment agreement between the two parties was signed in June of this year, with the Philippine Competition Commission giving its approval to the partnership in September.
The partnership combines ACR’s distinct knowledge of the Mindanao power market, developed through long years of experience as the island’s first independent power producer, with Global Business’s track record as the leading power producer in the Visayas.
“We believe that this partnership will greatly benefit power consumers particularly in light of the planned interconnection of the Mindanao and Visayas grids which we strongly support,” Alsons chairman and president Tomas Alcantara said.
Alcantara said Alsons was looking forward to bringing together the technical expertise and unique strengths of the two organizations in ensuring power security in the Southern Philippines.
“The synergy within ATEC will come to the fore once interconnection of the grid makes it possible for power consumers in the Visayas to be supplied from Mindanao and vice versa,” he said.