Aboitiz keeps shipping line, targets hydropower assets

The Aboitiz group is no longer keen on selling Superferry operator Aboitiz Transport System Corp. (ATS), company officials said. Following the failure of KGLI-NM Holdings Inc. to buy ATS, holding company Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) will be keeping its shipping line. “We are building our supply chain. We are already in this business so we'd like to grow that," said Erramon Aboitiz, president and chief executive officer of AEV. Presently, ATS has about 11 or 12 vessels, which are used for the roll-on, roll-off (Roro) and for freight. Aboitiz said out of the purchase agreement, the group has forfeited P100 million. KGLI-NM has failed to obtain proper financing for the P4.5-billion needed for the entire ATS. AEV and Aboitiz & Co. own 77.1 percent and 15.93 percent, respectively ATS. KGLI-NM is local firm that is jointly owned by Negros Holdings and Management Corp. and KGL Investment BV, a Dutch company owned by Kuwaiti company KGL Investment Company. Meanwhile, AEV, through Aboitiz Power Corp., will also be more focused on its energy investments. Aboitiz said the company is looking at various hydro power plant assets of the government. “That's our top priority," he said. The power unit of the firm is presently contributing about 65 percent of the company's earnings. Potential investments are targeted to boost the contribution to between 75 percent and 80 percent. Aboitiz-led Therma Luzon Inc. has recently been appointed by the government to become the independent power producer administrator of coal-fired Pagbilao plant. GMANews.TV