Congressman-elect Leandro Legarda Leviste has entered into agreements to divest most of his shares in SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC) before assuming office on June 30, 2025.
Leviste has signed an agreement to sell 5.01 billion SPNEC shares for P6.26 billion to Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen), in addition to a previous agreement to sell 5.82 billion shares for P7.50 billion. Under these agreements, MGen has already paid Leviste P13.76 billion, while the transfer of the 10.83 billion shares is expected soon. MGen has also previously purchased from Leviste 3.77 billion shares for P4.50 billion. Altogether, Leviste’s wholly-owned companies have agreed to sell a total of 14.60 billion shares to MGen for P18.26 billion.
In 2023, Leviste also sold 1.84 billion SPNEC shares to public shareholders for P2.23 billion. In total, Leviste has sold 16.44 billion shares for P20.49 billion. After these transactions, Leviste’s wholly-owned Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, Inc. (Solar Philippines) would still own 8.16 billion shares of SPNEC. Leviste is currently considering options for other private placements and financing on the remaining SPNEC shares of Solar Philippines and affiliates, which would bring the total funding raised from the SPNEC shares of Solar Philippines and affiliates to over P34 billion.
Leviste founded Solar Philippines in 2013 at 20 years old to accelerate the development of solar energy in the Philippines. Solar Philippines completed Luzon’s largest solar farm in Batangas and began developing SPNEC’s Nueva Ecija solar farm in 2016, and began operating its Tarlac solar farm in 2019. In 2021, SPNEC became the first-ever solar company to IPO in the Philippines, and Leviste became the youngest Chairman and CEO in the history of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Meralco invested P15.90 billion in primary shares of SPNEC in 2023 (together with purchasing P18.26 billion in secondary shares from Leviste, bringing Meralco’s overall investments in SPNEC to also over P34 billion) for the construction of SPNEC’s 3500 MW Terra Solar project in Nueva Ecija, the world’s single largest solar-battery project. In 2024, SPNEC under Meralco’s leadership was able to raise the funding from banks and foreign investors for the P200 billion project, including the largest foreign investment for an infrastructure project in Philippine history.
Leviste decided to focus on public service in 2024 after selling Meralco the controlling stake in SPNEC. Leviste continues to invest the proceeds of these share sales in real estate and equity investments, with the proceeds of these investments funding Leviste’s philanthropic initiatives.
Leviste was elected Congressman of the 1st District of Batangas on May 12, 2025 with 268,764 votes, the most votes in any congressional race in the history of Batangas.
