Five investors groups will compete for the government’s remaining 60 percent stake in PNOC- Energy Development Corp., the Philippine National Oil Co. said Tuesday.

Antonio Cailao, PNOC president, said the five groups who submitted final qualification documents are ACR-AEI Holdings, Inc. (Alsons Consolidated Resources and AEI Investments Inc.), FDC Geo-Energy Holdings, Inc. (Filinvest Development Corp. and Int’l Power Masinloc Holdings Inc.), AP Renewables (Aboitiz Power Corp.), Red Vulcan Holdings Corp. (First Gen Corp., Spalmare Holdings B.V. and Prime Terracota Holdings Corp.), and Panasia Energy Holdings, Inc. (San Miguel Energy Corp. and Beleggingsmaatchappij Broem B.V.).

“We have a very impressive final lineup. We really expected a realignment of forces among those whom we earlier pre-qualified,” Cailao said.

“We are very excited about these developments because the companies with the energy expertise have formed alliances with companies who not only have financial wherewithal but also have extensive experience in the energy industry. This potent combination means PNOC is dealing with the most competent groups,” he added.

PNOC has set the deadline for the submission of final bids on November 21 this year.

Earlier, PNOC prequalified 14 firms but three firms opted not to be involved in the final bidding process: One Energy Ltd., Marubeni Corp., Sumitomo Corp., and Basic Energy Corp.

The government plans to raise up to P36 billion from the sale, which is intended to augment the country’s budget deficit.

However, Cailao also said part of the proceeds from this privatization will be used to fund the some of PNOC’s energy projects. – GMANews.TV

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/67465/economy/companies/five-groups-to-vie-for-gov-t-stake-in-pnoc-edc