7 firms seen vying for FTI property

Food Terminal Inc. PHOTO FROM FTI.GOV.PH

MANILA, Philippines—All seven companies that had expressed interest in buying a 74-hectare portion of the Food Terminal Inc. property in Taguig City attended the pre-bid conference last Friday, signaling that bidding “will finally” be held, according to the Privatization and Management Office (PMO).

The government has set at P10.2 billion the floor price for this piece of the FTI property.

The deadline for the submission of bids is Aug. 8, 2012.

In a statement, the PMO identified the prospective bidders as Robinson’s Land Corp., Empire East Land, Ayala Land Inc., Rockwell Land Corp., Century Properties Group Inc., SM Land Inc. and Filinvest Land Inc.

“Following the last failed bidding of the FTI Complex in October 2009, the government has been working diligently to design a plan that would optimize the use of the parcel,” Karen Singson, PMO’s chief privatization officer, said in the statement.

In 2009, the government offered 103 hectares of the 120-hectare property. The bidding, however, failed as no one submitted an offer.

This time around, the PMO said it would conduct a workshop for prospective bidders to help them prepare for the submission of bids and prevent technical violations.

The seven companies, having been pre-qualified to join the auction, were given bid packets detailing the bidding rules “to ensure a transparent and competitive bidding process.”

“PMO continues to coordinate with other government agencies to ensure that the privatization of FTI complements the broad array of infrastructure building and agriculture initiatives of the government,” Singson said.