20 bid for Afam, Kaduna power distribution firms – BPE

Sale of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company and the Afam Power Plant, which was put on hold last year received 20 bids, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said Wednesday.

BPE said in a statement, that as at the deadline of Tuesday, April 16, 2013 for the submission of bids by prospective investors for the Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Distribution Companies, 20 prospective investors responded.

According to the BPE, a breakdown showed that nine bids were received for Afam Power Plc and 11 for Kaduna Distribution Company.

He said that the BPE had earlier set January 31, 2013 for the submission of Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from prospective bidders for the two companies and received 19 applications for Kaduna Disco and 29 applications for Afam Generation Company.

It added: 'Consequently, the Bureau, on February 4, 2013, sent Requests for Proposals (RFP) to the 48 prospective bidders', it said.

The BPE disclosed that it has set up a committee to evaluate the process and come out with report.

The Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc were among the 17 Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies that were earlier advertised for sale in December 2010 along with the 15 others that went through a full competitive tender process which culminated in the submission of technical and financial proposals in July 2012.

However, following the rigorous technical evaluation that all bids were subjected to, none of the bids received for Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc scored the minimum 75 per cent required to progress to the financial bid stage. This development compelled the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to order a re-run of the entire transaction, as it was not prepared to settle for a second best.