First Philippine Holdings and First Gen Corp announced on Wednesday that KKR has made a mandatory offer to acquire the Philippine power producer, valued at approximately 165.44 billion pesos or 2.70 billion dollars. KKR has offered to purchase an 8.43 percent stake directly from First Philippine Holdings. This acquisition would trigger a mandatory tender offer for the entire public float, representing 11.67 percent of First Gen's outstanding 3.60 billion common shares.
The tender offer price has been set at approximately 46 pesos per share, and the transaction would support a petition for First Gen to be delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange. First Philippine Holdings, which currently owns a 67.84 percent stake in First Gen, stands to benefit from the transaction. Market reaction has been notably positive.
First Gen's shares surged 9.5 percent on Thursday to 29.95 pesos, continuing significant gains from the previous session when shares climbed 28.4 percent to their highest level since early March 2022. First Philippine's shares gained as much as 6 percent during the same trading day. KKR has declined to provide additional comment on the transaction at this time.
The take-private deal represents a significant consolidation move in the Philippine power generation sector, as KKR seeks to gain full control of the established energy company. Source: Reuters.
Source: energynews.oedigital.com