PSALM receives P3.12-B payment from sale of Malaya plant
By Myrna M. Velasco – August 26, 2021, 3:04 PM
from Manila Bulletin
State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) has fully received the P3.123 billion payment for the 650-megawatt Malaya thermal power plant, completing the sale of the facility to Belgrove Power Corp.
On top of the remitted purchase price for the power plant, buyer Belgrove Power Corporation also paid additional P1.062 billion for the remaining fuel inventory that had been included in the asset’s turnover.
In a statement to the media, PSALM indicated that following the turnover of the payments for the plant and the fuel inventory, a ‘deed of absolute sale’ had been inked by the parties – and that served as the final document that concluded the divestment of the Malaya power generating plant.
According to Atty. Joseph Omar Castillo, president of Fort Pilar Energy which is the parent company of Belgrove, the buyer-firm “intends to undertake the necessary repairs as soon as possible so that the Malaya power plant can resume operations.”
He qualified that once the repair works for the generating facility will be completed, Malaya “can supply electricity to the Luzon grid and help ensure sufficient electricity supply in anticipation of the upcoming 2022 national elections.”
The sale of the Malaya plant was a major accomplishment for government-owned PSALM, being the biggest asset privatized so far under the Duterte administration.
“The completion of the sale and turnover of the Malaya power plant to Belgrove mark a major milestone in PSALM’s institutional history as PSALM has been trying to privatize this asset for several years already,” said PSALM President Irene Besido-Garcia.
Altogether, the state-run company fetched more than P4.185 billion proceeds from that privatization exercise. The amount is already being aligned for the settlement of the remaining financial obligations assumed by PSALM from its precursor-company National Power Corporation.
The sale of the Malaya plant was formalized in May via a negotiated tender process set forth by asset-seller PSALM – and Filipino firm Fort Pilar Energy Inc. had been declared as the winning party in that privatization exercise.
In June, Fort Pilar Energy has assigned its acquisition rights for the Malaya plant to subsidiary Belgrove, hence, the latter is already the buyer-entity that closed all deliverables with PSALM for the facility’s purchase.
The price offer of Fort Pilar Energy for the Malaya plant had been higher than the P1.845 billion minimum bid price approved by the PSALM Board for the facility’s disposal.
