MANILA, Philippines — Three law firms have submitted offers in the re-bid process undertaken by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) on its foray to recover some $3.5-million claims with legally-insolvent Lehman Brothers.

“There have been three bidderswhich submitted eligibility documents,” PSALM president and chief executive officer Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. has disclosed.

The submission deadline was re-scheduled by the company last December 22; after a bidding failure in October. The PSALM chief executive has deferred naming the bidders, but he hinted that “all three are big local law firms with foreign partners.”

He added that PSALM’s bids and awards committee (BAC) “has yet to finalize if the bidders will qualify.” The announcement of the winning party will be second week of January 2012.

The cost to be recouped from Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc. involved PSALM’s principal only swap (POS) deal with the former, a hedging transaction which is likened to an insurance purchase which requires the company to pay an annual expense premium equivalent to 2.687-percent of the notional amount of $100 million for 19 years. PSALM admitted that it already made two premium payments for the transaction.

The appointed claims and noticing agent of the New York court, which has been handling PSALM’s claims, is EPIQ Bankruptcy Solutions.

The approved budget for the legal consultant is P20 million, but Energy Secretary Rene D. Almendras previously indicated the actual cost may still go higher depending on the expenses to be incurred in the proceedings.

In PSALM’s tender notice, it emphasized that the biggest weight will be given to the “applicable experience of the firm and its associates/affiliates” – this accounted for 50-percent of the criteria and rating system.