PCC approves Kepco share purchase in Solar Calatagan

Kepco Philippines Holdings, Inc. can go ahead and buy shares in the country’s largest solar energy provider Solar Philippines, after getting the antitrust body’s approval.

In a statement, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said it had approved Kepco’s plan to acquire a 38-percent interest in Solar Philippines Calatagan Corporation, a subsidiary of Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, Inc.  (Solar Philippines).

Under competition law, mergers and acquisitions that are deemed large enough to affect competition in a certain market need the PCC’s go-ahead before proceeding with the transaction.

“While both are present in power market generation, they appear not to compete either in the wholesale electricity spot market or in the market for bilateral contracts, and thus do not compete in the same relevant market,” the PCC decision read.

PCC is citing a decision made on Dec. 4, wherein its mergers and acquisitions office said that the transaction did not result in the substantial lessening of competition in the power generation market.

Kepco Philippines, the acquiring entity, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corp. that is engaged in power generation in the Philippines.

According to its official website, Kepco’s local operations currently provide 16 percent of Luzon’s installed generation capacity, or 12 percent of the country’s installed generation capacity.

Solar Philippines, Southeast Asia’s largest solar company, has a 63.3-megawatt solar farm in Calatagan, Batangas.

According to its website, the solar plant compromises over 200,000 panels on a 160-hectare property, supplying enough to power the entire Western Batangas.