State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) is disposing another real estate asset by March 25 next year – and this time, it is a bigger-scale property in Barangay Lagundi in Mexico, Pampanga spanning 50,447 square meters.

The company issued invitation to bid (ITB) for its second round bidding on December 29, 2020; and interested buyers may start their due diligence process on January 4, 2021; while the pre-bid conference where they can raise questions and concerns on the asset’s divestment is scheduled on February 10.

PSALM apprised prospective takers that “the minimum bid price for the sale of the property will be announced at a later date and will be issued to interested parties/bidders through a supplemental bid bulletin or through re-publication of the ITB.”

It stipulated that “bids received below the minimum bid price shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.”

Interested parties can have access to the bidding package upon settlement of a non-refundable fee of P100,000.00; and the documents include bidding procedures, property profile and scanned copies of transfer certificates of title (TCT), tax declarations, lot plans and other available information relating to the property.

Interested parties can have access to the bidding package upon settlement of a non-refundable fee of P100,000.00; and the documents include bidding procedures, property profile and scanned copies of transfer certificates of title (TCT), tax declarations, lot plans and other available information relating to the property.

For the bid security that must be posted by the qualified bidders, PSALM stated that this shall be in an amount “equal to at least 10-percent of the bid price and shall be in cash, cashier’s or manager’s check, stand-by letter of credit (SBLC) issued by any commercial or universal bank licensed to do business and operating in the Philippines.”

According to the government-owned firm, the bid security can also be in the form of a surety bond, “callable upon demand”, and must be “issued by a surety or insurance company duly certified by the Insurance Commission as authorized to issue such security.”

PSALM similarly noted that “bidders who opt to submit bid security in the form of cash shall deposit the same through telegraphic transfer,” in a specified account of the company with the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The company prescribed that “a bid security in the form of manager’s/cashier’s check, SBLC or surety bond shall be submitted as part of the bid envelope.”

If the auction will turn out successful, the winning bidder is directed to remit payment within 10 business days from its receipt of the notice of award from the asset-seller firm.

“The winning bidder shall pay a one-time full payment of the purchase price in accordance with the payment instruction to be issued by PSALM,” the state-run company said.

As emphasized, the buyer of the asset “shall pay for all applicable taxes, licenses, fees and charges due on the sale transaction and all unpaid taxes, fees and/or expenses, such as but not limited to, capital gains tax or creditable withholding tax, whichever is applicable, documentary stamp tax, registration and transfer fees, and all other expenses and charges,” primarily those that cover the transfer of the title to the asset buyer.

PSALM has been privatizing array of real estate assets previously owned by the National Power Corporation (NPC), so it can raise additional cash to pay off the outstanding financial obligations of the power firm.