P110B in new investments show of trust in Duterte, says DOF
The two upcoming big-ticket investments worth a total of P110 billion in the energy and tobacco sectors reflected foreign investors’ trust and confidence in the Duterte administration, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said Thursday.
In a statement, Dominguez noted of the P64.5 billion to be infused by Macquarie Infrastructure Management (Asia) Pty Ltd and Arran Investments as a new investor in renewable energy producer Energy Development Corp. (EDC).
To recall, a consortium of funds being managed by Macquarie and Arran earlier formed Philippines Renewable Energy Holdings Corp., which was acquiring 31.7 percent of EDC.
Citing a recent report to the Philippine Stock Exchange of EDC parent-firm First Gen Corp., the DOF said the consortium plans to purchase 6.6-8.9 billion common shares of EDC, mainly from its minority shareholders, at P7.25 a share.
The DOF noted that Macquarie Infrastructure Management forms part of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, which is one of the biggest infrastructure asset managers globally, while Arran is an affiliate of GIC Pte Ltd., which manages the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore.
“Along with the additional P45 billion investment in the local cigarette industry from Japan Tobacco International (JTI), following its acquisition of Mighty Corp., the total foreign direct investment from these two sectors alone will amount to P110 billion,” Dominguez said.
“The credit goes to President Duterte who inspires trust and confidence in the Philippines,” Dominguez added.
JTI will acquire the assets and distribution network of homegrown cigarette manufacturer Mighty for P45 billion.
Of the acquisition cost, P25 billion will be remitted to the government to settle the tax liabilities of Mighty, which had been slapped three tax evasion cases due to alleged use of fake tax stamps.
In all, the Bureau of Internal Revenue will be paid a total of P30 billion, as the settlement amount will also be levied P5 billion in value-added tax.
