EDC keeps door open to investors

Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is open to entertaining interested parties for potential investments after Indonesian conglomerate Barito Group offered $5 billion to take over the firm.

“Of course, whenever a company gives you an offer, you’d want to [consider it], you wouldn’t just dismiss them,” EDC president and COO Jerome Cainglet told reporters on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Lopez-led First Gen Corp. confirmed that it had received an unsolicited bid from Barito Renewables to take over its clean energy arm.

EDC is being positioned as First Gen’s core business, with a bigger push on renewables expansion. This, as the group let go a portion of its stake in gas facilities.

However, Cainglet maintained that there have been no discussions yet with the Indonesian company.

“It’s unsolicited. We don’t have any obligation to respond,” he added.

EDC is a big name in the geothermal energy space, helping the Philippines become the third-largest geothermal energy producer in the global market with about 1,300 megawatts of capacity.

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The company also has drilling activities in Indonesia.

On top of geothermal energy, EDC has investments in solar, wind and hydro power.

If First Gen decides to sell EDC, Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at investment bank China Bank Capital Corp., previously said the group could cash in about $2.29 billion.