KKR to lift stake in Philippine IPP First Gen to 19.9%

An entity owned by global investor KKR & Co Inc (NYSE:KKR) will buy additional shares in the Philippines’ First Gen Corporation (PSE:FGEN) that will lift its shareholding in the independent power producer to 19.9%.

KKR said on Tuesday that Philippines Clean Energy Holding Inc, an entity owned by its investment funds, has completed a voluntary tender offer to buy 262.94 million common shares of First Gen. The shares were tendered at PHP 33 (USD 0.65/EUR 0.56) apiece and represent a total investment of PHP 8.68 billion.

The transaction will give KKR 7.3% of the target’s outstanding common share capital and increase its total ownership in the Philippine company to around 19.9%. It will be carried out through a block sale on the Philippine stock exchange on October 8.

First Gen, which is a subsidiary of the Lopez family’s conglomerate First Philippine Holdings Corporation, generates electricity primarily from renewable energy and indigenous fuel sources, including natural gas, geothermal energy from steam, hydropower, wind and solar. At present, the company has 3,495 MW of installed capacity that accounts for 19% of the country’s gross power generation.

KKR noted that Southeast Asia is a major part of its Asia infrastructure strategy, where it invests through its Asia Pacific Infrastructure Fund.

(PHP 10 = USD 0.197/EUR 0.170)

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