FGen, Prime Infra close gas business acquisition
Five months after announcing the majority stake sale, Lopez-led First Gen Corp. (FGen) and Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) have reached financial close on the ₱50-billion gas business transaction.
In a joint statement on Monday, Nov. 17, they said the recent closing officially transfers 60-percent ownership of FGen’s natural gas assets to Prime Infra, giving the company a controlling stake in five gas-fired plants and one offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.
Prime Infra now has a majority stake in the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Santa Rita, 500-MW San Lorenzo, 450-MW San Gabriel, 97-MW Avion, and 1,200-MW Sta. Maria power plants.
FGen will still have a 40-percent stake in these plants, while it will still own 20 percent of the LNG terminal, with the remaining 20 percent going to Japan’s Tokyo Gas.
Guillaume Lucci, Prime Infra’s president and chief executive officer (CEO), said the partnership will help secure the country’s energy supply and support sustainable energy expansion.
“These gas-fired power plants have played a critical role in supporting the Philippine economy and advancing the decarbonization of our energy mix. Our goal is to continue growing this platform together with First Gen to accelerate the country’s transition away from a power system that is still coal-dependent,” he said.
The Prime Infra executive also noted that this gas acquisition will complement its subsidiary, Prime Energy, which operates the country’s only indigenous gas field, the Malampaya deep-water gas project.
The company is currently carrying out phase four of drilling and exploration works.
FGen President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Francis Giles Puno added that this partnership would help support their decarbonization goals.
“This partnership marks not just a new chapter, but a renewed commitment to the work that powers this nation every day, to grow our gas platform responsibly, to strengthen our country’s energy security, and to help ensure that the Philippines transitions to clean energy,” Puno shared.
“First Gen’s partnership with Prime Infra will strengthen the country’s energy security and enable us to introduce more renewable energy (RE) into our country’s power supply,” said Federico R. Lopez, FGen’s chairman and CEO.
“The synergies created by this partnership will improve shareholder value over the long term and decisively address the country’s growing demand for clean, reliable, and affordable energy,” Lopez added.
Apart from natural gas assets, FGen has a wide variety of RE. Currently, the firm has about 1,189.34 MW of geothermal, 298.6 MW of hydro, and 156.82 MW of wind and solar capacities.