Singaporean firm Valorous Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd. will acquire 11.9 percent of First Gen Corp.’s outstanding common shares for P9.6 billion.
Following the tender offer period, Valorous Asia said Monday it has accepted 427,041,291 common shares of First Gen that were tendered by shareholders. The shares represent approximately 11.9 percent of First Gen’s outstanding common shares.
“[Valorous Asia] intends to acquire all of these tendered common shares at a price of P22.50 [$0.45] per common share on July 1, the cross date previously set out in the tender documents, representing a total investment value of P9.6 billion [$192.2million],” a statement from global investment firm KKR stated. Valorous Asia is an entity owned by KKR investment funds.
KKR has invested more than $1 billion in the Philippines, according to Michael de Guzman, a managing director on KKR’s Infrastructure team.
“We are very pleased with the result of this tender offer and are honored to be an investor in First Gen, a world-class infrastructure institution that plays a critical role in the lives of many Filipinos.
KKR has now invested more than $1 billion in the Philippines and we continue to look for new opportunities to support the country’s growth trajectory, its leading companies and its families through our infrastructure, private equity, real estate and credit investing businesses,” he said.
KKR, according to Asia Pacific Infrastructure head David Luboff, has viewed First Gen as an exceptional business. “We are thrilled to make this infrastructure investment in the Philippines in First Gen. We have long viewed First Gen as an exceptional business with a high-caliber leadership team, and we have great respect for the Lopez family for building this strong, well-established company.”
First Gen is one of the Philippines’ largest independent power producers and is a subsidiary of First Philippine Holdings Corp.
The company primarily generates power through renewable energy and indigenous fuel sources such as natural gas, geothermal energy from steam, hydro-electric, wind, and solar power. It has 3,492 megawatts of installed capacity in its portfolio, which accounted for 21 percent of the Philippines’ gross power generation in 2019.
“We welcome the news of KKR’s successful tender for First Gen shares and feel quite honored of the confidence they have in our country, our company, our management and the strategic choices we’ve made toward clean energy. It’s especially exciting given the accelerating transition we all need to make toward a decarbonized future and we look forward to engaging with a world class global investor, such as KKR, as we navigate the journey ahead as partners,” said Federico Lopez, chairman and CEO of First Gen.
Southeast Asia is a key part of KKR’s Asia infrastructure strategy, and KKR’s investment in First Gen extends the firm’s track record as an active investor in Southeast Asia across asset classes. First Gen is additionally KKR’s third investment in the Philippines, following the firm’s investments in Metro Pacific Hospitals, the country’s largest private hospitals operator and healthcare network, and in Voyager Innovations, a leading technology company.