MVP-led SPNEC buys more land from Leviste firm

Insider Spotlight

• SPNEC is buying land from two subsidiaries of Leviste’s Solar Philippines holding company.
• The Meralco Group controls SPNEC after investments and share acquisitions worth more than P29 billion.
• The deal comes amid an Ombudsman investigation into other solar projects linked to Leviste’s group.

Tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan-led SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC), controlled by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), is expanding its landholdings through purchases from companies under founder and politician Leandro Leviste.

SPNEC said wholly owned subsidiary Terra Nueva Inc. would acquire properties from Provincia Investments Corp. and JJPNM Agro Industrial Corp.

Both sellers are subsidiaries of Leviste’s Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. (SPPPHI), which retained a 16.3-percent stake in SPNEC as of June 30 this year. 

SPNEC’s related-party transactions committee endorsed the deals, but the Aug. 28 disclosure did not provide the land area or purchase price.

MGreen takes the helm

Meralco’s renewable-energy arm MGreen took control of SPNEC in 2023 and raised its voting stake to 69.25 percent in 2025 through investments and share acquisitions worth more than P29 billion.

SPNEC also inaugurated the first phase of its ₱200-billion MTerra Solar project on July 14, billed as the world’s largest integrated solar and battery-storage facility on a single site.

Ombudsman probe advances

Separately, the Ombudsman is investigating Batangas Rep. Leviste, Sen. Loren Legarda and former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi over allegedly unfinished solar projects and more than P10.44 billion in unpaid government obligations. 

Leviste and Legarda were abroad as the probe advanced, prompting the Ombudsman to question the timing of their trips and urge them to return and answer the allegations.

—Edited by Miguel R. Camus