PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The Nutter administration has revealed
that 30 companies have expressed interested in buying PGW. And officials have now asked a smaller
number of firms to submit final bids — though they won’t say how many.
Mark McDonald, the mayor’s spokesman, says 30 companies
submitted what are called “indicative” bids — initial offerings — and now that
list has been winnowed down.
“We’ve now gone to the next level and reduced that number to
a number that, for competitive reasons, we’re not able to disclose,” McDonald
said today. “But this smaller group of
interested parties will now receive much more detailed information about
(PGW).”
Final, binding bids from the smaller group will be due in
January, and the city would finalize sales terms by February.
Any decision by the mayor would then need final approval by
both City Council and the state Public
Utility Commission.
McDonald says the mayor believes the sale is a good idea.
“We think there’s a strong case to be made for the sale of
the company,” McDonald tells KYW Newsradio.
“We reserve judgment — in the end you have to wait until you see the
final, binding offers — but it’s certainly encouraging.”
The city’s financial advisor on the sale predicts a final
sale price of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
Unions representing some PGW workers are opposed to the
privatization. The Nutter
administration counters that the sale proceeds could shore up the city worker
pension fund and improve, overall, the city’s struggling finances.
Source: CBS
Local
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