Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan is set to become chairman of SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) once MGen Renewable Energy (MGreen) completes its P15.9 billion investment in the solar energy firm founded by Leandro Leviste.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SPNEC said MGreen completed payment on the balance of P8.9 billion to acquire control.
As a result, MGreen will own 15.7 billion common shares and 19.4 billion preferred shares in SPNEC, translating to a voting interest of 50.5 percent.
SPNEC’s board of directors also approved the election of Pangilinan as chairman, president and CEO while Leviste remains as vice chairman.
The company also appointed Amanda Roselle A. Bengson as director, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary; Pedro Emilio O. Roxas as independent director; Dominador M. Camu Jr. as COO; Anthony Matthew N. Co as assistant treasurer; and Jo Marianni P. Ocampo as assistant corporate secretary.
MGreen is the renewable energy development arm of Meralco Powergen Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Manila Electric Co., the country’s largest private sector electric distribution utility company.
SPNEC, meanwhile, is the developer of a planned 3.5-gigawat solar and 4.5-gigawatt-hour battery project centered in Nueva Ecija touted as the world’s single largest contracted solar project. SPNEC is majority-owned by Leviste’s Solar Philippines prior to MGreen’s entry.
Prior to the transaction, Solar Philippines sold 1.6 billion SPNEC secondary shares for P2 billion to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and entered into an option agreement to sell up to 7.4 billion secondary shares worth P9.25 billion. Based on 50.1 billion shares outstanding, this would value SPNEC at P63 billion.
The planned Nueva Ecija solar project requires estimated total investment of around P200 billion.
“This will be one of the largest solar projects not just in Asia but in the world,” Pangilinan said. “It’s a big project. It has attracted a lot of interest from foreign investors because it’s big,” he said.
“All of us shareholders are extremely fortunate for this opportunity. We are optimistic that becoming the newest member of the MVP group of companies will help SPNEC grow even beyond what we have planned, for the benefit of all shareholders and other stakeholders,” Leviste said.
