The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said it did not get any notice in connection with Udenna Corporation’s acquisition of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V.’s (SPEX) 45% stake in the Malampaya gas-to-power project.
PCC Chairman Arsenio Balisacan, in a BusinessWorld report, said the commission was not notified since the notification threshold for mergers and acquisitions was raised to Php50 billion under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, or the Bayanihan 2 law.
Republic Act (RA) 11494, the original Bayanihan 2 law, was supposed to expire on December 19, 2020, but its validity was extended to June 30 this year by virtue of RA 11519.
Balisacan made his remark after Senate energy committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian tagged Udenna’s purchase of Chevron’s 45% deal as “invalid.”
The PCC saw no competition issues in the Chevron-Udenna deal, which took place in March 2020 and which the Department of Energy (DOE) approved last April.
Balisacan also pointed out that the PCC only looks at the competition side of transactions.