Chelsea expects to get original proponent status for Sasa Port bid soon

Businessman Dennis A. Uy’s Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. has submitted all requirements related to its P11.2-billion proposal to develop and operate the Sasa Port in Davao City.

Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy, president and CEO of Chelsea Logistics, said in a text message that a “review” was concluded with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) in late 2018.

“We are looking to get OPS (original proponent status) anytime soon if our offer will meet the PPA requirements,” Damuy said.

An OPS grants a company a big advantage in a Swiss Challenge, which is mandated for unsolicited offers such as Chelsea’s proposal to modernize the Sasa Port.

Chelsea Logistics had also won in 2018 an OPS for its P49-billion offer to develop and operate the Davao International Airport, the country’s third-busiest.

Damuy said Chelsea Logistics was currently focused on the two projects. However, he added, the company remained on the lookout for other projects.

Chelsea Logistics is part of Udenna Corp., Uy’s main holding company which has embarked on a massive debt-fueled expansion binge over the last two years.

Like Chelsea Logistics, Udenna is also expanding into transport infrastructure. It won OPS for a monorail system in Davao and separately proposed to build a light rail system in Cebu.

Both Chelsea and Udenna joined forces with state-backed China Telecom to win the third telco selection process last November. Their consortium committed to invest at least P257 billion over five years in establishing a nationwide mobile network.

As of 2018, the Public Private Partnership Center announced that there were 17 unsolicited offers valued at P1.4 trillion in the pipeline.

The projects included the P735-billion offer of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to build a brand-new airport along the Bulacan coastline and a P102-billion proposal by seven of the country’s biggest conglomerates to expand and upgrade Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.