KKR buys 11.9% stake in First Gen

Global investment firm KKR group, through Singapore-based subsidiary Valorous Asia Holdings, has completed the acquisition of an 11.9-percent stake in First Gen Corp. at a total of P9.6 billion, or about $192.2 million.

Valorous is wholly owned by KKR Asia Pacific Infrastructure Holdings Pte. Ltd., likewise registered in Singapore and which is in turn a subsidiary of KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR said in a statement Valorous had accepted all of the 427.04 million First Gen common shares that shareholders tendered, and which it will acquire at P22.50 apiece on July 1.

When plans for the acquisition were announced in May, Valorous said it intended to acquire up to about P7.29 billion worth of First Gen common shares at that price.

“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,” KKR’S head of Asia-pacific infrastructure David Luboff said in a joint statement.

First Gen chair and chief executive Federico Lopez said the engagement with “a worldclass global investor” would be helpful in First Gen’s drive to keep pace with the accelerating international movement toward renewable energy as opposed to resources that use fossil fuels.

Michael de Guzman, managing director at KKR’S infrastructure team, described First Gen as “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,” De Guzman said.

The investment in First Gen is KKR’S third venture in the Philippines after those in Metro Pacific Hospitals and in tech firm Voyager Innovations.