Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) said it expects to close the acquisition of stake in Chromite Gas Holdings (CGHI) by end-September, paving the way for their investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets valued at $3.3 billion.
MGen, the power arm of Manila Electric Co., will acquire a 60-percent interest, while TNGP owned by Aboitiz Group will acquire the balance of 40 percent in CGHI.
CGHI intends to invest in two gas-fired power plants owned by San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP), including the 1,278-megawatt (MW) Ilijan power plant and a new 1,320-MW combined cycle power facility under Excellent Energy Resources Inc. that is under construction.
CHGI, together with SMGP, will also invest in the LNG import and regasification terminal owned by Linseed Field Corp. CGHI intends to acquire a 67-percent equity interest in the LNG assets, while SMGP will own the remaining 33 percent.
Meralco PowerGen president Emmanuel Rubio said the transaction is now under review by the Philippine Competition Commission, and they do not expect any issues that will affect the approval of the deal.
“It’s undergoing PCC approval. The notice of sufficiency was issued. We’re still waiting for notice if it will proceed to the second phase or first phase is actually enough… We expect to get the approval probably by around September, if ever, but we don’t see any issues with receiving the approval. So that’s just the main trigger for us to take over or for the joint venture to actually commence,” Rubio said.
Rubio said they were also waiting for the power supply agreement (PSA) approval for EERI from the Energy Regulatory Commission.
“After PCC approval, I think financial closing, and then of course the ERC approval needs to happen for Excellent Energy,” he said.
Rubio said the two units of Excellent were already fired up and under commissioning. They are expected to deliver capacity to Meralco by December for the first unit, March for the second unit and May for the third unit.
