[ANALYSIS] From an funding historic first to hocus-pocus: The Leviste SPNEC story

Leandro Leviste earns the ire of the small investing public with some saying they had been led to spend money on a supposedly historic first however taken for a experience in an internet of company hocus-pocus

With the identical storyline that catapulted Batangas 1st District Consultant Leandro Leviste to rise quickly within the enterprise sector as a marvel child with the aim of “making solar energy extra accessible and inexpensive throughout the nation,” it’s ironic that the identical narrative — aggravated by his latest political misadventures. It’s now the identical cause that’s quick pulling him down, incomes particularly the ire of the small investing public with some saying they had been led to spend money on a supposedly historic first however taken for a experience in an internet of company hocus-pocus.

In 2013, Leviste began to put in photo voltaic panels he imported from China to mall rooftops.  His first undertaking was the set up of photo voltaic panels at Central Mall in Biñan, Laguna, with SM North EDSA because it most notable undertaking — all beneath  his now holding firm, Photo voltaic Philippines Energy Mission Holdings Integrated (SPPPHI). 

The large breakthrough got here in 2021: one in all its 31 or so subsidiaries, Photo voltaic Philippines Nueva Ecija Company (SPNEC), held an preliminary public providing (IPO) involving the issuance of major shares on the supply worth of P1 apiece and made its buying and selling debut on the Most important Board of the Philippine Inventory Alternate (PSE) on December 17, 2021.  

It was the primary firm to checklist beneath the PSE’s “Renewable Power Itemizing” guidelines, which permit firms and not using a observe document of earnings to checklist primarily based on undertaking potential.  

SPNEC’s IPO was an enormous success. The sturdy demand got here from traders who wished publicity to the primary pure-play photo voltaic firm to checklist on the PSE. Its P2.7 billion providing was reportedly oversubscribed as much as P5.3 billion, and gave SPNEC a market capitalization of P8.12 billion.  

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First maneuver: Baiting the retail traders

Photo voltaic Philippines Nueva Ecija Company modified its identify to SP New Power Company, however retained its itemizing image and company abbreviation of SPNEC.  The change was accredited by the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) in October 2022 and mirrored on the PSE beginning November 8, 2022.  (READ: Leviste photo voltaic firms handed round DOE offers as franchisee incurred losses)

The corporate’s par worth remained the identical at P0.10 per share. However the firm elevated later its approved capital inventory from 10 billion shares to 50 billion shares, accredited by the SEC on June 1, 2023. Together with this was the corporate’s shift from a single undertaking in Nueva Ecija to a broader portfolio of initiatives calling itself because the “developer of what’s deliberate to be the most important photo voltaic undertaking in Southeast Asia.” 

The transfer additionally led to a powerful market efficiency of the corporate’s shares: from a market capitalization in December 2022 of P12 billion, this rose dramatically to P45.4 billion by December 2023. Additionally, SPNEC’s share worth motion “exceeded the Philippine Renewable Power trade’s revenue return of 6.1% over the identical interval.”

Amid the market excitements, the corporate’s monetary report was buried within the information: SPNEC’s web loss worsened to P104.99 million in 2023 from P36.00 million in 2022. 

The sellout and first rebranding 

When the corporate confronted a liquidity crunch and a buying and selling suspension as a consequence of its public float falling under 20% in early 2023, Leviste went to mattress with the Manuel V. Pangilinan group.  

In March 2023, Metro Pacific Investments Company (MPIC) entered right into a sale and buy settlement with SPPPHI to amass 16% (1.6 billion frequent shares) of the excellent shares of SPNEC.

MPIC accomplished its acquisition in Could 2023. As a part of the transaction, an Possibility Settlement was executed which grants the MPIC group the choice to amass as much as 10,000,000,000 major shares at a subscription worth of ₱1.25 per share and as much as 7,400,000,000 secondary shares at a purchase order worth of ₱1.25 per share. A full train of those choices would make the MPIC group the only largest shareholder of SPNEC with an nearly 43% curiosity.

Put into movement even earlier in reference to the corporate’s improve in approved capital inventory, SPNEC’s board of administrators accredited a modification to the transaction that may inject the undertaking property to SPNEC from SPPPHI.  

The deal was supposedly a tax-free property-for-shares swap, the place SPNEC would subject roughly 24 billion frequent shares to SPPPHI at a price of P2.50 per share for a complete transaction worth of P60 billion. However SPNEC’s board cancelled the tax-free swap association and changed it with an all-cash buy, with the next phrases: SPPPHI buys roughly 24 billion frequent shares of SPNEC on the par worth of P0.10 per share for a complete transaction worth of ₱2.4 billion; then SPNEC buys the undertaking property from SPPPHI utilizing the money proceeds. 

The ultimate nail and second rebranding 

By December 2023, MVP took over as chairman and CEO of SPNEC. And to distance SPNEC from the P24-billion wonderful imposed by the Division of Power (DOE) on SPPPHI for failure to meet its power era contracts alongside along with his solely managed Photo voltaic Para Sa Bayan Company (SPSB) which can be the topic of one other investigation by the Ombudsman for alleged franchise violation owing to the legislator’s share transactions, Leviste formally resigned from SPNEC’s board in January 2026. 

On January 21, 2026, too, the SPNEC board accredited altering the identify to MGEN Renewable Power Holdings Inc. and the ticker to MGENR.

Leviste signed and agreed to promote 5.01 billion SPNEC shares for P6.26 billion to MGENR, along with a earlier settlement to promote 5.82 billion shares for P7.50 billion.  

Below these agreements, MGENR has already paid Leviste P13.76 billion, except for having beforehand bought from Leviste 3.77 billion shares for P4.50 billion that altogether add as much as a complete of 14.60 billion shares for P18.26 billion.

Leviste additionally bought 1.84 billion SPNEC shares to public shareholders for P2.23 billion. In complete, Leviste has bought 16.44 billion shares for P20.49 billion. After these transactions, Leviste’s wholly owned SPPPHI would nonetheless personal 8.16 billion shares of SPNEC.  

General, Leviste is alleged to have raised over P34 billion from the divestment of his shares and from these shares held by SPPPHI and associates in SPNEC.

Leviste maintained that the entire transactions had been achieved so “to share extra upside with our public shareholders” who, he says, are “our companions in constructing this firm for the long run.” – Rappler.com

(The article has been ready for basic circulation for the studying public and should not be construed as a proposal, or solicitation of a proposal to purchase or promote any securities or monetary devices whether or not referred to herein or in any other case.  Furthermore, the general public ought to be conscious that the author or any investing events talked about within the column could have a battle of curiosity that would have an effect on the objectivity of their reported or talked about funding exercise.  Chances are you’ll attain the author at densomera@yahoo.com)

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