First Gen soars nearly 8% on P75-B investment in Razon hydro platform

Federico "Piki" R. Lopez

First Gen CEO 

The Lopez family-led First Gen Corp. climbed almost 8 percent on Thursday after announcing one of the Philippines’ largest power deals, a planned P75 billion investment in Enrique Razon Jr.’s hydropower business.

Shares of the company rose 7.85 percent to P20.60 in early trading after a two-day suspension. Gains were paid while the broader Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped 0.07 percent.

The investment gives First Gen a 40 percent stake in the 2,000-megawatt Wawa and Pakil pumped storage projects under Prime Hydropower Energy Inc. (PHEI). The company said P62.5 billion of the amount will be allocated to construction and equity funding.

“First Gen’s investment in these projects strengthens its partnership with Prime Infra and crystallizes the shift of the company’s portfolio to renewable energy,” the company said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday. 

Closing is subject to Philippine Competition Commission approval and is expected within 2026. 

This comes after Prime Infra acquired 60 percent of First Gen’s Batangas gas plants. 

First Gen, which is nearly 20 percent owned by global investment fund KKR, still controls a vast portfolio of renewable energy plants spanning geothermal, wind, and solar.