Meridian Power Ventures Is Meralco’s Special Purpose Vehicle – Gov’t

Government, through the Energy Ministry, is claiming that questions that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) raised yesterday about the supposed transfer of 30% shares of leading PDS Concession firm, Meralco, to a new entity, Meridian Power Ventures (MPV) are unwarranted. According to the Energy Ministry, no such questions arise because no such transfer happened. MPS, it says, is not a new entity that has just entered the PDS fray but a long-existing Special Purpose Vehicle belonging Meralco. “The Memorandum that was submitted to Parliament towards the approval of the concession agreement stated clearly, that an SPV will be formed to ensure that concession agreement is protected.  Subsequent to that MIDA met the Finance and Mines and Energy Committees of Parliament on the 11th of July 2018 and stated clearly what the constitution of that shareholding agreement is. “If you look at that shareholding structure on page 8 of that particular presentation, what you will find is that all the shareholders that were part of this consortium that was approved had incorporated Special Purpose Vehicles. That of Meralco was known as Manila Power Ventures,” Nana Damoah, the Energy Ministry’s PRO said. According to him, the NDC’s claim that the government has transferred 30% of Meralco’s share is therefore not correct, as MPV has all along been Meralco’s SPV. “So indeed the claims that are being made by Asiedu Nketia have no grounds whatsoever. Meridian Power Ventures is not a new entity, they should have known as at July 11 2018, that the shares of Meralco are being held by Meridian Power Ventures and indeed there is a lot of documentation that shows that that is the case,” Nana Damoah said. Yesterday, the NDC had held a press conference at its Adabraka Headquarters and sounded the knell on government’s alleged transfer of 30% of Meralco’s shares to MPV under what the opposition party implied were clandestine circumstances. Party General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, had alleged that the transfer had been communicated to Chair[person of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) Prof. Yaa Ntiamoah Baidoo through  a letter dated October 14 2019, and that the transfer had been done without recourse to Parliament. “We are being told through this letter that a new company called Meridian Power Ventures, registered in Hong Kong is the owner of the 30% shares in this whole PDS arrangement. Who are the owners of this Meridian Ventures, Government should come and tell us who the owners are, and what capacity they have and what legal leg they are standing on to call meetings to restructure Management of PDS.” The NDC General Secretary also questioned what the locus of Meralco in the PDS Consortium is, now that MPV is in the picture. “So are we still dealing with PDS or we are dealing with another entity altogether, and if we are dealing with another entity what is the locus of that entity in dealing with our property” He wondered how the shares of Meralco could be transferred to Meridian Ventures which was incorporated on June 26, 2018, without recourse to Parliament. “So since when did the shareholding of 30% get transferred from Meralco of Manila to Meridian Power Ventures of Hong Kong, without notice to Ghanaians, without approval of Parliament and this new Meridian Power Ventures have assumed the authority of calling a meeting now to restructure the Board and Management of the PDS?”