Tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan’s Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has further solidified its control over SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) after businessman-turned-politician Leandro Leviste completed a P13.76-billion share sale.
Leviste, son of Sen. Loren Legarda, sold 10.8 billion SPNEC shares to Meralco’s MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen) via a block sale through the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.
The transaction involves 5.8 billion and five billion shares sold for P1.2873 and P1.25 apiece, respectively, which effectively hiked MGreen’s stake in SPNEC to 69.26 percent from 53.7 percent.
Leviste still owns 18.66 percent of SPNEC’s common shares following the block trades.
The share sale follows the maturity of the exchangeable note facility agreements between Leviste’s Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. and MGreen executed in September 2024 and March 2025.
Leviste earlier announced plans to divest his shares in SPNEC after being elected as congressman of the first district of Batangas in May.
Proceeds from the divestment are expected to reach over P34 billion.
The Meralco Group took control of SPNEC two years ago after initially investing P15.9 billion to fund the construction of the world’s largest integrated solar and battery storage project.
Straddling the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, the P200-billion MTerra Solar consists of a 3,500-megawatt solar farm equipped with a 4,500-MW-hour battery energy storage component.
In March, the Meralco Group secured a $600-million super deal with UK-based investment house Actis, providing much-needed financial muscle to MTerra Solar.
A P150-billion loan was also sealed with BDO Unibank Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Philippine National Bank, Security Bank Corp., China Banking Corp. and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. to finance the project.
Once completed, MTerra Solar will dispatch its generation output through a power supply agreement with Meralco, the country’s largest energy utility serving over eight million customers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
Any excess energy generated is intended to be offered to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the centralized venue for power trading.