Department of Public Works and Highways in Manila, Philippines (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Seven of the country’s biggest business groups are vying for the government’s Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property, which is up for bidding next month for a minimum price of P10.2 billion, the Department of Finance said yesterday.
The potential bidders are the Gokongwei group’s Robinson’s Land Corp., Andrew Tan’s Empire East Land, the Ayala group’s Ayala Land Inc., the Lopezes’ Rockwell Land Corp., the Sy family’s SM Land Inc., Andrew Gotianun’s Filinvest Land Inc. and Century Properties Group Inc., owned by the family of Jose Antonio.
The seven property firms obtained the necessary documents and are expected to participate in the public bidding set on Aug. 8 for 74 hectares of the 103-hectare FTI Complex.
The government tried but failed to bid out the FTI property in the past, with the Macapagal-Arroyo administration even lowering the floor price to P7 to P8 billion. One valuation pegged the value of the property at P12 billion.
The last attempt to auction FTI was in 2009 when private companies snubbed a public bidding for the property.
In an interview, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the P10.2-billion floor price, though lower than the P12-billion valuation, is based on the current market price.
“There is no plan to drop the valuation. We believe in markets,” Purisima said.
The remaining 29 hectares of the complex will be used for other various purposes including a five-hectare integrated bus terminal, which is being constructed by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
PMO chief Karen Singson said that following the failed bidding of the 103-hectare FTI complex in October 2009, the government has designing a place to optimize the use of the property.
“PMO continues to coordinate with other government agencies to ensure that the privatization of FTI complements the broad array of infrastructure building and agriculture initiatives of the government,” Singson said.
Proceeds of the sale will go to the Department of Agrarian Reform for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and to the Department of Agriculture.
The 103-hectare FTI agro-industrial complex is one the largest industrial complexes in Metro Manila and is currently home to more than 300 companies.
It provides industrial and commercial lots for medium-to-long term leases, and industrial buildings with standard-sized stalls for office, warehouse or small-scale processing operations.
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