(FILE PHOTO) Subic Bay Freeport—NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines—With Cerberus taking over the former Hanjin shipyard at the Subic Bay free port, the state-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is again seeking a reinsurer of the facility’s industrial risks, projected to hit a gross amount of $904.57 million.
Documents dated March 17 showed the GSIS will bid out the contract for facultative premiums worth $2.09 million for a one-year reinsurance of industrial all risks insurance of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Agila NY Naval Inc., Agila South Inc., and Agila Services Inc.
Including retention of $169,607.59, gross premiums (exclusive of 12-percent value-added tax or VAT) to cover the shipyard’s building and structures were a bigger $2.26 million.
Bidding documents had been made available by the GSIS since March 17 for a fee of P50,000 per set. A pre-bid conference will be held on March 24. The deadline to submit to the GSIS and opening of bids will be on April 5.
Reuters earlier reported that US private equity company Cerberus will buy the Subic shipyard left behind by South Korean-led Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil) in 2019.
Officials had said that the shipyard had been appealing to many white-knight investors due to the sprawling 300-hectare property at the former US naval base, and HHIC-Phil’s close to $2 billion in assets which dwarfed the $411-million debt.
According to Reuters, the deal with Cerberus would be sealed by mid-April.
Documents seen by the Inquirer in 2020 had shown that the International Finance Corp. (IFC) — the World Bank’s private-sector lending arm — as well as the United States International Development Finance Corp. (US DFC) looked into investing in Agila SPV, which back then was eyeing the shipyard.
Both the IFC and the US DFC, which finances investments of private American firms outside of the US, did not respond to the Inquirer’s queries back in December 2020.
Last January, the GSIS also sought but failed to tap a reinsurer for the shipyard.
Back in January, the facultative and gross premiums sought by the GSIS were lower, at $1.42 million and $1.54 million.
In the Feb. 1 bid bulletin issued by the GSIS, it identified Cerberus as the new operator of the shipyard, with the tentative date of transfer of operations set on Feb. 25,2022.
“Since Cerberus will be the locator of the SBMA, it will also be leasing the shipyard facility to the tenants/occupants. One of them is the Philippine Navy, which will occupy the northern yard,” the GSIS said last month.
The GSIS said that the SBMA owns the land where the shipyard stood under a 50-year lease agreement. “The insured is sub-leasing land and leasing land improvements to two tenants who will jointly occupy about 40 percent of the entire perimeter,” the GSIS said.
TSB