With the same storyline that catapulted Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste to rise rapidly in the business sector as a wonder kid with the goal of “making solar power more accessible and affordable across the nation,” it is ironic that the same narrative — aggravated by his recent political misadventures. It is now the same reason that is fast pulling him down, earning especially the ire of the small investing public with some saying they were led to invest in a supposedly historic first but taken for a ride in a web of corporate hocus-pocus.

In 2013, Leviste started to install solar panels he imported from China to mall rooftops.  His first project was the installation of solar panels at Central Mall in Biñan, Laguna, with SM North EDSA as it most notable project — all under  his now holding company, Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Incorporated (SPPPHI). 

The big breakthrough came in 2021: one of its 31 or so subsidiaries, Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation (SPNEC), held an initial public offering (IPO) involving the issuance of primary shares at the offer price of P1 apiece and made its trading debut on the Main Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on December 17, 2021.  

It was the first company to list under the PSE’s “Renewable Energy Listing” rules, which allow companies without a track record of profits to list based on project potential.  

SPNEC’s IPO was a big success. The strong demand came from investors who wanted exposure to the first pure-play solar company to list on the PSE. Its P2.7 billion offering was reportedly oversubscribed up to P5.3 billion, and gave SPNEC a market capitalization of P8.12 billion.  

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First maneuver: Baiting the retail investors

Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation changed its name to SP New Energy Corporation, but retained its listing symbol and corporate abbreviation of SPNEC.  The change was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in October 2022 and reflected on the PSE starting November 8, 2022.  (READ: Leviste solar companies passed around DOE deals as franchisee incurred losses)

The company’s par value remained the same at P0.10 per share. But the company increased later its authorized capital stock from 10 billion shares to 50 billion shares, approved by the SEC on June 1, 2023. Along with this was the company’s shift from a single project in Nueva Ecija to a broader portfolio of projects calling itself as the “developer of what is planned to be the largest solar project in Southeast Asia.” 

The move also led to a strong market performance of the company’s shares: from a market capitalization in December 2022 of P12 billion, this rose dramatically to P45.4 billion by December 2023. Also, SPNEC’s share price movement “exceeded the Philippine Renewable Energy industry’s profit return of 6.1% over the same period.”

Amid the market excitements, the company’s financial report was buried in the news: SPNEC’s net loss worsened to P104.99 million in 2023 from P36.00 million in 2022. 

The sellout and first rebranding 

When the company faced a liquidity crunch and a trading suspension due to its public float falling below 20% in early 2023, Leviste went to bed with the Manuel V. Pangilinan group.  

In March 2023, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) entered into a sale and purchase agreement with SPPPHI to acquire 16% (1.6 billion common shares) of the outstanding shares of SPNEC.

MPIC completed its acquisition in May 2023. As part of the transaction, an Option Agreement was executed which grants the MPIC group the option to acquire up to 10,000,000,000 primary shares at a subscription price of ₱1.25 per share and up to 7,400,000,000 secondary shares at a purchase price of ₱1.25 per share. A full exercise of these options would make the MPIC group the single largest shareholder of SPNEC with an almost 43% interest.

Put into motion even earlier in connection with the company’s increase in authorized capital stock, SPNEC’s board of directors approved a modification to the transaction that will inject the project assets to SPNEC from SPPPHI.  

The deal was supposedly a tax-free property-for-shares swap, where SPNEC would issue approximately 24 billion common shares to SPPPHI at a value of P2.50 per share for a total transaction value of P60 billion. But SPNEC’s board cancelled the tax-free swap arrangement and replaced it with an all-cash purchase, with the following terms: SPPPHI buys approximately 24 billion common shares of SPNEC at the par value of P0.10 per share for a total transaction value of ₱2.4 billion; then SPNEC buys the project assets from SPPPHI using the cash proceeds. 

The final nail and second rebranding 

By December 2023, MVP took over as chairman and CEO of SPNEC. And to distance SPNEC from the P24-billion fine imposed by the Department of Energy (DOE) on SPPPHI for failure to fulfill its energy generation contracts along with his solely controlled Solar Para Sa Bayan Corporation (SPSB) which is also the subject of another investigation by the Ombudsman for alleged franchise violation owing to the legislator’s share transactions, Leviste officially resigned from SPNEC’s board in January 2026. 

On January 21, 2026, too, the SPNEC board approved changing the name to MGEN Renewable Energy Holdings Inc. and the ticker to MGENR.

Leviste signed and agreed to sell 5.01 billion SPNEC shares for P6.26 billion to MGENR, in addition to a previous agreement to sell 5.82 billion shares for P7.50 billion.  

Under these agreements, MGENR has already paid Leviste P13.76 billion, aside from having previously purchased from Leviste 3.77 billion shares for P4.50 billion that altogether add up to a total of 14.60 billion shares for P18.26 billion.

Leviste also sold 1.84 billion SPNEC shares to public shareholders for P2.23 billion. In total, Leviste has sold 16.44 billion shares for P20.49 billion. After these transactions, Leviste’s wholly owned SPPPHI would still own 8.16 billion shares of SPNEC.  

Overall, Leviste is said to have raised over P34 billion from the divestment of his shares and from those shares held by SPPPHI and affiliates in SPNEC.

Leviste maintained that all of the transactions were done so “to share more upside with our public shareholders” who, he says, are “our partners in building this company for the long term.” – Rappler.com

(The article has been prepared for general circulation for the reading public and must not be construed as an offer, or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments whether referred to herein or otherwise.  Moreover, the public should be aware that the writer or any investing parties mentioned in the column may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of their reported or mentioned investment activity.  You may reach the writer at [email protected])

Related articles on the Leandro Leviste solar energy business:

• [Vantage Point] The Leviste gambit: Monetizing clean energy for political gains?
• [Vantage Point] The Leviste solar saga – why markets should be worried
• [Vantage Point] Consumers pay for DOE’s delayed action on Leviste firms 
• [Vantage Point] The solar tale: Jurisprudence slays Leviste’s thinly veiled tact