U.S. investment firm buys large stake in First Gen Corp., EDC’s mother company

60 MW Mahanagdong geothermal power plant, Leyte, Philippines (source: EDC)

As reported this morning from Manila in the Philippines, American investment firm KKR through its subsidiary Valorous Asia Holdings has acquired a 11.9% equity stake in First Gen Corp., the mother company of geothermal firm Energy Development Corp. (EDC) in the Philippines. The price is said to be P9.6 billion or USD 192.2 million, putting the evaluation of First Gen at around USD 1.62 billion.

“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,” said David Luboff, partner and head of Asia Pacific infrastructure at KKR.

“This is an exciting and further milestone for KKR’s Asia Pacific infrastructure business, and we are pleased to have this opportunity to be an investor in First Gen able to positively engage with the company’s management team and the Lopez family as helpful in the future,” said Luboff.

First Gen is one of the Philippines’ largest independent power producers and is a subsidiary of First Philippine Holdings Corp. controlled by the Lopez family. 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. One if not the largest geothermal operator in the world, Energy Development Corp. is a subsidiary of First Gen.

Source: Manila Standard