BDO, Metrobank back Aboitiz hydro deal with ₱70-billion loan
An Aboitiz-led group secured ₱70 billion in financing from two of the Philippines’ largest lenders to fund its acquisition of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan hydropower complex.
Aboitiz Renewables Inc., a unit of Aboitiz Power Corp., along with partners Sumitomo Corp. and Electric Power Development Co., obtained bridge loan facilities of up to ₱35 billion each from BDO Unibank Inc. and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), according to a stock exchange filing Thursday.
The Thunder Consortium is using the funds to finance its ₱36.26 billion winning bid for the 797-megawatt Laguna-based power assets.
The group prevailed in a July auction conducted by the state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., beating a rival bid from the FWKG Consortium, which included First Gen Corp. and Korea Water Resources Corp.
The CBK complex consists of the 39.52-megawatt Caliraya plant, the 23.10-megawatt Botocan facility, and the Kalayaan I and II pumped-storage plants with a combined capacity of nearly 734 megawatts.
The facilities currently operate under a build-rehabilitate-operate-transfer contract scheduled to expire in February 2026.
The acquisition bolsters Aboitiz Renewables’ portfolio as the company aggressively expands into geothermal, wind, solar, and battery energy storage systems.
Its existing assets include the 159-megawatt-peak Laoag solar project and the 17-megawatt Tiwi binary geothermal facility.