BY DENNIS GADIL
[ Malaya.com.ph ] November 4, 2009
The government is negotiating with three groups on the privatization of the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property in Taguig City, with the winner to be announced between November 30 and early December.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves yesterday said they will know in the coming weeks if any of the three could offer an acceptable pricing for the property.
The finance chief declined to name the three groups, but hinted one or two are newcomers in the real estate business.
He said the three parties have requested for non-disclosure.
Teves earlier indicated government may lower its P13 billion asking price which led to the failure of a bidding held last month.
Teves said a negotiated sale is quicker than a re-bidding.
At least four giant property developers have expressed initial interest in the bidding but snubbed the actual bidding process.
Among them were Ayala Land Inc., the Gokongweis’ Robinson’s Land Corp. and Century Properties. The fourth company which secured bidding forms was not identified.
Teves has said poor market conditions might have driven prospective bidders away from last month’s bidding.
He said interested parties probably were not ready with upfront cash payment.
Market watchers said the bidding failed because property developers want the government to lower the price to below P10 billion.
The government earlier insisted that the P13 billion floor price was reasonable because based on the last valuation of the property, FTI was worth roughly P15 billion.
FTI is a 120-hectare agro-industrial commercial estate in Taguig. It was originally built to be a food processing and consolidation center for agricultural products. It houses more than 300 small-to-medium scale companies engaged in as manufacturing, garments and electronics, among other industries.
Of the 120 hectares, the government is selling 103 hectares because the remaining 17 hectares are owned by the National Food Authority (NFA).
State pension fund Government Service Insurance System earlier offered to buy outright the FTI property for P7 billion but the government did not bite.
Teves has said their preference is to sell the property to a private group.
A few months ago, GSIS indicated that it was no longer interested in acquiring the property.
The FTI is one-third of the three-asset package put up for auction this year to generate at least P30 billion.
The government’s stake at the PNOC-Exploration Corp and the Fujimi property in Japan are the second and third state assets, respectively, slated for sale this year. The three state assets have a combined worth of P30 billion.
The Fujimi property will be formally bid out November 16 with at least two interested groups participating.
The Japan property, which houses the Philippine embassy offices, will not be sold outright but will be leased out to a private group under a 50-year contract which calls for the construction of a five-story office-commercial building.
