Ranhill teams up with A Brown to bid for Masinloc

BY RUBY ANNE M. RUBIO, BusinessWorld Senior Reporter Malaysia power utility Ranhill Berhad has formed a company with publicly listed A Brown Co. for its plan to bid for the 600-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired power plant. The company, called Masinloc Consolidated Power, Inc., will be engaged in the construction, purchase, and operation of power plants, documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show. Its incorporation was approved by the SEC last July 4. In the five-page document, Masinloc Consolidated said it will also engage in the purchase, generation, production, supply and sale of electricity. "In the event that the corporation wins the bidding for the Masinloc power plant, A Brown hereby grants to Ranhill Berhad the irrevocable option to purchase such amount of A Brown’s equity in the corporation to enable Ranhill Berhad to own 51% of the outstanding capital stock of the corporation within 12 months from winning of the bid; provided that in the event Ranhill Berhad exercises this option, the corporation registers under the Foreign Investments Act and do all that is necessary to comply therewith," the newly incorporated company said. Masinloc Consolidated has an authorized capital stock of P4 million divided into four million shares at a par value of P1. At least 25% of the authorized capital stock or P1 million has been subscribed and at least 25% of the total subscription has been paid. A certification was made by International Exchange Bank (iBank) Service Head Ma. Concepcion Piscasio that P1 million was deposited with the bank. "Said deposit is clear and free from lien, restriction, condition or holdout and may be withdrawn in behalf of the said company upon presentation of proof of incorporation," Ms. Piscasio said in a letter the SEC dated June 28. Masinloc Consolidated will have five directors namely Jasmin S. Castro, Roel Z. Castro, Greg Joseph SJ. Tiongco, Javier P. Flores, and Miguel C. Palarca. They all subscribed to one share. Ranhill is one of Malaysia’s premier conglomerates with substantial asset investment in energy, power, water and infrastructure. It subscribed to 400,000 shares of Masinloc Consolidated amounting to P400,000. Trying Again Ranhill partnered with YNN Pacific Consortium last year for the purchase of the Masinloc facility but the acquisition did not materialize after the group failed to come up with the upfront payment of $227 million. The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., the holding company of state-owned power generator National Power Corp., declared the December 2004 bidding which YNN won a failure after it failed to produce the upfront payment for the power plant. Filipino company A Brown subscribed to 599,995 shares worth P599,995. A real estate development company, it owns a 200-hectare property called Xavier Estates in Cagayan de Oro City and a 40-hectare residential development in Barangay Agusan, also in Cagayan de Oro City. It is also developing a project called East Cove Village in Cainta, Rizal. A Brown also has interests in hotels, restaurant operations, agriculture, and the trade of crude oil, aggregates, bitumen, other petroleum products. It is in its last phase of building a palm oil mill with a capacity of 15 tons at Impasugong, Bukidnon.