Alsons to secure new loans to bankroll projects

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. of the Alcantara family is set to tap new loan facilities to help raise funds for roughly P14 billion worth of power projects in Mindanao.

Luis R. Ymson Jr., chief financial officer of Alsons Consolidated, told the Inquirer that the group would need $311 million (or roughly P12.7 billion) to fund the planned 105-megawatt coal-fed power project in Talisayan, Zamboanga City, and another P1.2 billion for the reacquisition and rehabilitation of the 105-MW Iligan diesel-fed power plant.

“We will again raise project finance loan from banks for 70 percent of the Zamboanga project cost,” Ymson said.

“We already have a loan commitment with a bank for the debt portion of the Iligan rehab,” he added.

The company announced earlier this month that it was setting its sights on developing the Zamboanga power project, which will be undertaken by a subsidiary called San Ramon Power Inc.

San Ramon Power obtained its environmental compliance certificate for the project early last year and finalized an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Daelim Industrial of South Korea in December 2012.

Alsons Consolidated is likewise preparing for the acquisition of the 105-MW Iligan diesel-fed power plant, a move that will pave the way for the immediate rehabilitation and operation of the power facility, in time to provide much-needed electricity to the Mindanao grid by the summer months of April to June this year.