SN Aboitiz Power has achieved financial closure to successfully acquire and begin operating the 360MW Magat hydro plant in the Philippines.
The Norwegian-Philippine JV bought the hydro plant at auction with a bid of US$530M. The nearest rival bid to the state power assets company, PSALM, was US$420M from First Gen Corp.
Under the takeover, SN Aboitiz Power has drawn up plans for reorganising the operation of the Magat plant and assets over the next few months. It has offered temporary contracts, limited to five months, to all 55 staff at the plant.
The company aims to increase the installed capacity of the plant. In a statement, it added that there was scope for a ‘substantial’ rise in capacity.
SN Aboitiz Power has a 15-strong team based in the capital, Manila.