Power unit eyes IPO in ’13

Global Business Power Corp., the power-generation unit of taipan George Ty’s GT Capital Holdings, is planning to go public next year once its expansion plans in both Visayas and Mindanao have been firmed up.

According to GBPC president Arthur N. Aguilar, the option to proceed with the initial public offering (IPO) would also depend on the market conditions at that time. The move would follow the successful listing of GT Capital in the local bourse this year.

He noted that the company was prepared for the undertaking as it already went through due diligence under GT Capital, when the holding firm was previously preparing for its own public offering, and has put in place the required systems.

Aguilar explained that proceeds from the IPO would be used by GBPC for two proposed coal-fired power projects in Cebu and Iloilo, earlier reported to be worth P20 billion. A portion could also be allocated for Mindanao where GBPC was also considering to put up a coal-fired power plant to help augment the critical power supply on the island, he added.

The two main projects in Visayas, according to Aguilar, would include the proposed 82-megawatt facility in Toledo, Cebu, whose capacity would be fully used by the copper mines of Carmen Copper Corp., a subsidiary of Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. The project is being undertaken by Toledo Power Corp.

The other project, being undertaken by Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC), is the expansion of the existing 164-MW coal plant in Iloilo by another 82 MW.

“Power consumption in Iloilo has gone up considerably so we’re looking into the projections of growth in the next three to four years. We’ll study the possibility of putting up the third plant there. It will be 82 MW but it is still under study,” Aguilar said.

He explained that given the presence of cost-effective and reliable electricity coming from PEDC’s coal-fired power plant, businesses involving BPOs [business process outsourcing] and real estate in Iloilo were starting to boom. And with the strong presence of the Ayala group and Megaworld in Iloilo, power demand was projected to grow as businesses in the city and its surrounding areas pick up as well.

PEDC also needed to expand as businesses in Boracay, where it supplies power as well, continued to flourish, he added.

The two proposed power facilities by GBPC, according to Aguilar, could help address the need for additional capacity in the Visayas grid by 2015 and 2016.

Mindanao, meanwhile, has “always been an interest” for GPBC, which is planning to build its first power facility on the electricity-starved island.