Ashford W. Meikle, Business Reporter

Jamaica Public Service headquarters, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston. - file

Mirant Corp has whittled down interested bids to six, with half a year left to its July deadline to wind up the sale of its 80 per cent stake in Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).

"Mirant has shortlisted six serious bidders, and I know the folks," said Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies on Wednesday.

"We have insisted that anybody shortlisted will not just have cash but must be power people ... who are interested in the long-term" development of the utility, said Davies, the speaker at the monthly Mayberry Investment Forum.

The Jamaican Government must approve the buyer, according to the deal it made with Mirant five years ago.

The company's announcement last July that it was putting up the local power company for sale caught the Government off guard since Davies had hoped to use the sale of the Government's 20 per cent stake - estimated to be about US$3.5 billion - to finance part of the 2006/2007 budget.

The Atlanta-based company, which has been criticised for its business dealings and environmental policies, recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) last January.

With the listing on the NYSE, the company appears to be turning its attention to its North American operations, hence its decision to divest its Caribbean operations - it also operates in Trinidad, Curaçao and the Bahamas. Last December, the company sold its Filipino business to the Japanese companies, Tokyo Electric Power and Marubeni Corporation, for US$3.42 billion in addition to its working capital.

On Wednesday, Davies criticised the local private sector for its lack of interest in JPS, which had net profit of $1.57 billion for its financial year to March 31, 2006.

"I had anticipated, given the outpouring of nationalism, I would have seen a consortium of Jamaican investors expressing an interest," said Davies.

"With the exception of the tourism sector, there is now a need for us to take on some of the big projects. It cannot be that foreigners have more faith in our prospects than we do."

ashford.meikle@gleanerjm.com