Privatization Mgmt Office moves Food Terminal Inc. bidding to Aug. 14

Seventy-four hectares of the 120-hectare agro-industrial complex Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) will be auctioned off, again, the government said Thursday. And to give potential bidders more time for due diligence, the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) of the Department of Finance has moved the bidding date back by six days. “The bidding date has been rescheduled from August 8, 2012 to August 14, 2012 to give bidders more time to study additional information on the property,” the PMO said. With the new deadline, bidders have until 11:30 a.m. of Aug. 14 to submit their bid proposals. Seven of the country’s biggest business groups are vying for part of the agro-industrial estate for a floor price of P10.2 billion. The potential bidders are the Gokongwei group’s Robinson’s Land Corp., Andrew Tan’s Empire East Land,  Ayala Group’s Ayala Land Inc., the Lopezes’ Rockwell Land Corp., the Sy family’s SM Land Inc., Andrew Gotianun’s Filinvest Land Inc., and the Antonio family's Century Properties Group Inc. The government tried but failed to bid out the property in the past, with the Arroyo administration even lowering the floor price to P7 to P8 billion. A valuation valued the property at P12 billion. The last attempt to priviatize FTI was in a 2009 public bidding, which private companies snubbed. Proceeds of the sale will go to the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agrarian Reform for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The FTI estate is one the largest industrial complexes in Metro Manila and is currently home to more than 300 companies. It provides industrial and commercial lots for medium- to long-term lease, and industrial buildings with standard-sized stalls for office, warehouse or small-scale processing operations. Once FTI is privatized, government expects economic activities in Taguig City and nearby areas to flourish as employment increases and transport linkages in the complex improve. —  BM/VS, GMA News