San Miguel interested in dormant 600MW power plant

MANILA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - San Miguel Corp (SMC.PS) (SMCB.PS), Southeast Asia's biggest food and drinks company, said it was interested in buying a dormant 600 megawatt (MW) power plant in Manila, as it pushes further into the power industry.

San Miguel has been pursuing ventures outside its established food and drinks businesses to fuel future growth.

"Yes, if Sucat is for sale," San Miguel President Ramon Ang said in a phone text message to Reuters on Monday, when asked if the company was interested in bidding on the Sucat Thermal plant.

The dormant plant is owned by the state-run National Power Corp (Napocor).

The state-run Power Sector and Assets Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM), tasked to oversee the sale of state power assets and manage Napocor's debts, has not set a definite timetable for the sale of the Sucat plant, but the sale may take place early next year, a PSALM spokesman said on Friday.

PSALM did not give the valuation of the decommissioned plant located in Muntinlupa City in the capital city. The government wants the facility to resume operations using locally produced natural gas instead of imported bunker fuel.

Newspaper reports last week quoted Ang as saying the group's energy investments should contribute 25 percent to total earnings at full operation, with its traditional food and drinks businesses contributing just 10 to 20 percent.

San Miguel last month won a state auction for a 620 MW diesel-fired power facility, offering $13.5 million to acquire its first power generation asset. [ID:nMAN328495]

Also last month, it made the highest bid, of $1.07 billion, for a contract to exclusively obtain the output of a 1,000 MW coal-fired plant located north of the capital. [ID:nMAN460384] ($1=48.62 pesos) (Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco; editing by Karen Foster)