Vivant studying follow-on offer for P67-B pipeline

CEBU-BASED conglomerate Vivant Corp. is studying the possibility of conducting a follow-on offering to help finance its planned P67-billion investment pipeline through 2030.

“We’re studying the possibility of doing a follow-on offering also. But of course, we have to consider the market conditions when we do the follow-on offering,” Vivant Chief Finance Officer and Risk Officer Minuel Carmela N. Franco said during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Thursday.

She said the company plans to fund its pipeline of projects through a combination of debt and internal equity.

Vivant is planning around P60 billion in investments for its energy business from 2026 to 2030, particularly for renewable energy (RE) projects and related infrastructure.

“We have laid out an ambitious roadmap with total projected investments amounting to P60 billion from 2026 to 2030,” Vivant Chief Executive Officer Arlo G. Sarmiento said.

About 78% of the planned investments will go toward renewable energy projects.

“Stabilized by our strong foundation of existing investments in power and water, I am confident that our projected P60-billion to P70-billion pipeline investments over the next five years will allow us to continue to deliver on our mission to bring excellence to industries that improve everyday living,” he said.

Amid ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, company officials said renewable energy development could help reduce the country’s dependence on imported conventional fuel sources.

“We could use more RE. Our dependence on conventional energy sources has made us the most expensive, maybe next to Singapore, country in terms of power costs. And that’s largely because of our dependence on oil, gas, and even coal,” Mr. Sarmiento said.

Emil Andre Garcia, president and chief executive officer of Vivant Energy Corp., the company’s wholly owned energy investment arm, said Vivant is looking to develop up to 15 energy projects with capacities ranging from 30 megawatts (MW) to 300 MW.

“We’re looking at starting heavy investments this year, but the heavier ones should be in ’27 and ’28, assuming, of course, that the macros improve, or at the very least, stay where they are,” he said.

Vivant currently has an attributable operating generation capacity of around 471 MW and is targeting to expand its power portfolio to 1,000 MW by 2030.

For its water business, the company is planning another P7 billion in investments across the water value chain, including bulk water supply, desalination, wastewater, and water distribution projects.

Jess Anthony N. Garcia, president and chief executive officer of Vivant Water, said the investment pipeline is intended primarily to expand the company’s desalination, wastewater, and water distribution segments.

“I think for the water sector, it’s a sector that’s been largely neglected. And I think because of that, there’s a lot of room there to improve infrastructure,” he said.

Vivant Water is set to operationalize a desalination plant in Cordova capable of producing up to 20 million liters of water per day.

Vivant has investments in electric power generation and distribution, retail electricity supply, bulk water supply, wastewater treatment, and water distribution. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera