By Yantoultra Ngui
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s GIC and Australia’s Macquarie are looking at selling their stake of roughly 30% in Philippine renewable energy firm Energy Development Corp (EDC), a deal that could fetch $2 billion, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
They are in preliminary talks with advisors and no decision has been made, the sources said, declining to be identified as the discussions were private.
EDC is the Philippines’ biggest renewable energy firm with installed capacity of some 1,480.19 megawatts, most of which is geothermal energy. It accounts for about a fifth of the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity, according to its website.
GIC, a Singapore sovereign wealth fund, and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets invested in EDC in 2017. A press release at the time said they planned to pay $1.3 billion for up to 31.7% of the company.
The rest of EDC is mostly held by Philippines tycoon Federico Lopez’s First Gen Corp. According to First Gen’s 2023 annual report it holds 65% of voting rights in EDC while GIC and Macquarie’s joint venture, Philippines Renewable Energy Holdings Corp, holds 34.9% of the voting rights.
GIC and Macquarie declined to comment. EDC did not respond to a request for comment.
Renewable energy is attracting increasing investment as countries seek to meet climate goals and cope with growth in electricity demand.
Electricity demand in Southeast Asia is set to grow at an annual rate of 4% in the coming years, with clean energy sources such as wind and solar, alongside modern bioenergy and geothermal power, projected to meet more than a third of the growth in energy demand in the region by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency.
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
