Latest news with #Manila
Forbes
5 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Billionaire Enrique Razon To Buy 60% Stake In Lopez Group's Gas Assets For $896 Million
Prime Infrastructure—controlled by casino-to-ports billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.—has agreed to buy 60% of the gas assets of the Lopez family-backed First Gen for 50 billion pesos ($896 million). Under a term sheet entered into by both parties and subject to a definitive agreement, Prime Infra will buy the controlling stake in five existing gas-fired power plants and a sixth facility under construction with a combined capacity 3,247 megawatts, along with an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal, according to a document furnished to Forbes Asia. The assets are all located in Batangas province, south of Manila. The partnership will enable First Gen and Prime Infra to 'further nurture, enhance and expand their natural gas platforms,' helping to secure the country's energy independence, according to the document. The gas plants will boost the profile of Prime Infra, which owns a substantial stake in the Malampaya gas field. The company is investing $800 million on drilling and exploration to boost the output of Malampaya, which has been dwindling in recent years. Prime Infra's power assets include two existing solar farms with a combined capacity of 128MW and two hydroelectric plants, which will have a combined capacity of 2,000MW once completed. For First Gen, the partial sale will help bankroll the $9 billion it plans to invest to quadruple its renewable energy capacity to 13 gigawatts in the six years through 2030. First Gen derives 55% of its capacity from gas while the rest comes from wind, solar, hydro and geothermal. After spending about $1.2 billion in 2024, that included the purchase of the 165 MW Casecnan hydro power facility in Nueva Ecija, north of Manila, it has earmarked another $601 million in capital expenditures this year, with as much as 90% allocated for 140MW of geothermal capacity, while the rest will be spent on a 50MW solar project. The Razon-Lopez deal is the latest strategic partnership to shake up the Philippine energy sector following a $3.3 billion gas and LNG joint venture announced by billionaire Ramon Ang's San Miguel Corp. with Aboitiz Power and a unit the Manila Electric Co. With a real-time net worth of $12 billion, Razon also has interests in global port operator ICTSI and Bloomberry, which owns two casino resorts in Metro Manila. In 2022, he planned to list Prime Infra, which also provides water utility and waste management services, but decided to postpone the IPO due to unfavorable market conditions. Besides their interest in energy, the Lopez family, which has a net worth of $230 million, is also the controlling shareholder of ABS-CBN, once the country's largest broadcaster. It pivoted to online streaming and content sharing with other networks after Philippine lawmakers in 2020 rejected the media company's bid to renew its franchise.
Bloomberg
13 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Philippine Casino Operator Hann Files IPO Prospectus, CEO Says
Philippine casino operator Hann Holdings Inc. has filed its prospectus for an initial public offering, Chief Executive Officer Dae Sik Han said. The company is planning to raise up to 11.8 billion pesos ($212 million) by selling 500 million common shares at a maximum price of 23.60 pesos apiece, according to a preliminary prospectus seen by Bloomberg News. There is an option to sell 50 million more secondary shares, the document showed.
Al Jazeera
13 hours ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
China's navy conducts combat patrols near disputed South China Sea shoal
China's navy has conducted 'combat readiness patrols' near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, while South Korean officials separately announced the discovery of more Chinese buoys in contested waters in the Yellow Sea. The Southern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted the drills in the 'territorial waters and airspace of China's Huangyan Island and surrounding areas', state-run news outlet Xinhua reported on Saturday, using China's name for the Scarborough Shoal. The report said the PLA had been conducting drills in the area throughout May to 'further strengthen the control of relevant sea and air areas, resolutely defend national sovereignty and security, and resolutely maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea'. The Scarborough Shoal is a rocky islet claimed by The Philippines, located 220km (119 miles) west of Luzon, the nearest landmass. Beijing blockaded and seized the territory, a traditional fishing ground, from Manila in 2012. The Chinese navy regularly carries out provocative military drills in the area as part of its claims of sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that Beijing's claims had no legal basis under international law. In late April, Manila accused Beijing of carrying out 'dangerous manoeuvres and obstruction' after a Chinese naval ship damaged a Philippine coastguard ship with a water cannon near the shoal. Also on Saturday, South Korean officials announced they had recorded three new Chinese buoys installed near overlapping waters with South Korea, bringing the total number of such devices installed by China in the Yellow Sea to 13. '[We] are closely monitoring activities within the provisional maritime zone [PMZ], including China's unauthorised installation of structures, and will closely [cooperate] with relevant agencies to protect our maritime sovereignty,' a Ministry of Defence official said, according to South Korea's official Yonhap news agency. Two of the Chinese buoys – first detected in May 2023, but only announced this week – have been installed near the zone, according to Yonhap. The third buoy is located inside the maritime zone, a contested area where the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) claims of South Korea and China overlap, Yonhap added. China asserts its maritime boundary is based on a 1962 agreement signed with North Korea which cuts into waters South Korea considers part of its economic zone. The Yellow Sea PMZ allows joint management of marine resources and prohibits activities beyond navigation and fishing. However, tensions have grown between Beijing and Seoul as China has repeatedly erected installations in the waters, including 10 three-metre-wide and six-metre-tall observation buoys since 2018 and a fixed steel structure in 2022. Last week, China declared three no-sail zones within the zone, in a move 'believed to be for military training purposes', according to the Korea Joongang Daily newspaper. The no-sail declarations caused concern in Seoul over a potential uptick in Chinese military activity in the area.
South China Morning Post
19 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Philippines' Duterte vs Marcos battle for 2028 begins: ‘they've smelled blood'
As the dust settles from the shock of the Philippines ' midterm election, it is clear that President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and his dynastic rivals, the Dutertes, have fought to a stalemate, with both camps securing an equal number of Senate seats. Advertisement This political deadlock ensures that the immediate focus of national politics will revolve around the rivalry between the two powerful clans. For Marcos' administration, pressing economic and foreign-policy issues are likely to take a back seat to two urgent priorities: removing Sara Duterte-Carpio from the vice-presidency, and preparing for the 2028 presidential race. 'All politicians' attention will be on 2028, on who has the best chance of winning,' said Ronald Llamas, political strategist and former presidential adviser. 'Whether overtly or covertly, politicians will begin to gravitate to whoever is No 1 or No 2 in surveys for the presidential elections,' he told This Week in Asia. Unfortunately for the Marcoses, early surveys have not been kind. President Marcos himself is barred from seeking re-election in 2028 by constitutional term limits, even if his popularity were higher. His cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, has been floated as a potential contender, but his abysmal approval ratings – reportedly less than 1 per cent – make him an unlikely flag-bearer for the Marcos camp. Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio enjoys high approval ratings. Photo: AP By contrast, Duterte-Carpio remains a formidable challenger, buoyed by the enduring popularity of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte . 'Her ratings have dropped but they're still high,' Llamas said.
Arab News
a day ago
- Business
- Arab News
Philippines looks to deepen trade, business ties with UAE
MANILA: The Philippines is ready to deepen its economic partnership with the UAE, Manila's special envoy has said, as the visit of a business delegation from Dubai concluded this week. Dubai Chambers organized a business forum in Manila on Wednesday as part of its 'New Horizons' initiative. With its delegation visiting the Philippine capital, the business body had organized at least 180 bilateral meetings. The event also saw Dubai Chambers and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry sign a preliminary agreement aimed at strengthening trade and investment ties through various efforts, including sending trade missions and organizing business-matching missions. 'The Philippines is open, ready, and eager for stronger trade and business ties with the UAE,' Kathryna Yu-Pimentel, the Philippines' special envoy to the UAE for trade and investment, said during the forum. 'Last year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the UAE — a golden milestone. Today, we look ahead with even more optimism.' The UAE is a key trading partner of the Philippines in the region. In 2023, non-oil bilateral trade between the Philippines and the UAE reached over $1 billion. The Gulf state also ranked as the Philippines' top export market among the Gulf Cooperation Council nations, and its 17th largest trading partner globally. It is also home to the second-largest Filipino diaspora after Saudi Arabia, with some 700,000 overseas Filipino workers living and working in the UAE. Many are employed in the construction, healthcare and hospitality sectors. 'This upward trend will only continue, especially with the anticipated signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the Philippines and the UAE next month,' Yu-Pimentel said. 'This will be historic in the sense that it will be our first free trade agreement with a Middle Eastern country.' The expected development will follow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s first trip to Abu Dhabi in November, during which he met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. The two leaders committed 'to deepening cooperation in various areas, including economy, trade and sustainability' during their meeting, which included discussions on the bilateral trade agreement. Negotiations on the free trade deal have been underway between Philippine and UAE officials since the beginning of 2024.
