Meralco to expand into Nigeria

The top Philippine power distributor is taking over two Nigerian power firms.

Meralco president Oscar Reyes said Meralco and its consortium partners in Nigeria want to take over by the third quarter of this year. The consortium, led by Lagos-based Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Ltd., hired Meralco as technical partner for two power firms privatized by Nigeria.

Reyes said IEDM approached Meralco in 2011 after it was referred by a European advisory firm.

“We partnered with IEDM. It is essentially a technical service agreement because IEDM doesn’t have any background experience in distribution. This is for two distribution utilities in Nigeria,” said Meralco chairman Manny Pangilinan.

Pangilinan said Meralco has taken a 5% percent equity in IEDM and was given the option to raise its stake to up to 20%.

“We are open to (raising to 20%) but we’d like to take a look at it on the point of view of being more as a service provider to IEDM,” Pangilinan said.

Meralco views the Nigeria deal as a way to bring the power retailer brand overseas.

Pangilinan said that if Meralco decides to raise its investments in Nigeria, it wouldn’t be as significant as its Singapore deal.