PGBh declines offer to purchase 70% stake in Bohol Light

The Provincial Government of Bohol has declined the offer of the Salcon Consortium for the province to acquire its 70-percent stake in the Bohol Light Company, Inc (BLCI).

This was expressed through a resolution passed by the Provincial Board (PB) during its regular session on Tuesday upon the recommendation of the Local Finance Committee.

Provincial Legal Officer lawyer Handel Lagunay, speaking in behalf of the finance committee during the session, said the province does not have the “financial” and “technical” capabilities to make the purchase.

“In running a public utility company, we really need people with specialized skills and some special equipment as well, which at present are lacking and it would entail additional expense on the part of the provincial government,” Lagunay said.

He added that the acquisition of the 70-percent stake in BLCI which is equivalent to 52,500,000 shares would impair the budget allocated for crucial programs of the provincial government.

The purchase would cost the province over P206 million, or P3.94 per share based on the net tangible assets of the corporation at book value. The acquisition would have allowed the provincial government, which already owns 30 percent of BLCI, to take full ownership of the distribution utility.

“That amount would entail too much and would result to sacrificing and slashing of our budget for programs, activities, and projects already in place therefore our recommendation is to decline the offer,” said Lagunay.

The provincial government earlier made a counteroffer to purchase 10 percent of the issued shares of the company but this was rejected by the consortium through its representative Dennis Villareal.

“It is the intention of the members of the Consortium to sell all their shares representing 70 percent of the issued shares, in a single transaction, to optimize the value or return to each members,” Villareal said in a letter addressed to acting Governor Victor Balite.

Primelectric Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Enrique Razon-led MORE Power, was earlier reported to have made an offer to acquire the remaining issued shares of BLCI.

However, the provincial government has right of first refusal which obligates Salcon to make the same offer to the province as its current shareholder. (A. Doydora)