Manuel Pangilinan and Leandro Leviste —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Updated on September 4, 2024 at 9:30 p.m.
Tycoon Manuel Pangilinan seems to be at full throttle in strengthening his group’s renewables arm with a P7.5-billion investment to beef up its stake in SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC).
Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), the power generation subsidiary of Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Co., paid Solar Philippines of businessman Leandro Leviste P6.7 billion on Tuesday for an additional 5.8 billion shares or 11.6 percent more of SPNEC.
READ: SPNEC scrambles to fund world’s largest solar farm
The remaining P800 million would be settled once a new investor in Terra Solar Philippines Inc. comes in, according to a statement from SPNEC.
The total investment of the Pangilinan group now stands at P27.9 billion, translating to a 50.5 percent economic share in the solar firm frohm the previous 38.9 percent.
Solar Philippines, meanwhile, holds 29.4 percent in SPNEC.
The MVP Group took control of SPNEC in December 2023 after Meralco injected P15.9 billion into the solar power firm.
Meralco also acquired redeemable preferred shares in SPNEC that gave it majority voting power but no additional economic interest.
This developed barely two months after Pangilinan expressed openness to hiking Meralco’s stake in SPNEC amid the development of the latter’s massive Terra Solar project.
“It’s the largest single-site solar facility in the world, and the Philippines should be proud of that. It’s a very complex [and] huge undertaking,” Pangilinan earlier told reporters.
“And I believe that once the entire 3,500 [megawatts of capacity] on 4,000 hectares are built, if we send you to outer space, you can take a photo of that facility from outer space,” he added.
Last July, SPNEC president and chief executive Emmanuel Rubio said that the P200-billion solar park—which straddles the boundary of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan—had a completion rate of 54 percent. Construction works would be done in two phases. The first phase, with a target capacity of 2,500 MW, is expected to be finished by 2026. The 1,000-MW second phase is eyed for completion by 2027.
The project also secured the Board of Investments’ green lane certificate, allowing the company to enjoy expedited permit and license processes.
Pangilinan earlier said SPNEC may soon choose foreign investors from a “very long list” of interested parties to help finance the solar project. Rubio noted that these investors were based in Japan, London, the Middle East and the United States. —Lisbet K. Esmael