MANILA -(Dow Jones)- The Philippine agency charged with selling state-owned power assets said Monday it will auction off a 25-year contract to operate the country’s electricity transmission network in December, which is currently being operated by National Transmission Corp., or Transco.The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., or Psalm, in a newspaper advertisement invited interested parties to participate in the bidding for the operation of Transco’s power transmission assets.
Due diligence on the assets will begin Aug. 1, while a pre-bid conference is scheduled Nov. 5.
The agency said the deadline for submission of bids is Dec. 12.
In February, the government failed for the fourth time to privatize operation of the country’s power grids, after only one of three prospective bidders submitted a bid.
The assets are valued at $2.8 billion but need to be refurbished.
Proceeds from the privatization, which will include upfront payments and fees, will be used to reduce the debt of state utility National Power Corp. or Napocor, which retained Transco’s debt after Transco was spun off from Napocor.
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