Billionaire Enrique Razon’s Prime Infra To Build Dam In Cebu As Firm Expands Water Utility Footprint

Prime Infrastructure—controlled by casino and ports billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.—aims to expand its water utility business in the central Philippine island of Cebu as the company deepens investments in the sector to help fill water shortages in the country.

The company has already expressed ins intention to the municipal government of Cebu to build a dam that would help alleviate the water supply shortage in Cebu, Melvin John Tan, team leader for the water sector at Prime Infra, said at a media briefing in Manila on Thursday. A detailed proposal will be submitted in early 2023, he added.

“Cebu has a water deficit of about 250 million liters per day,” Tan said in a hybrid in-person briefing, and via video conferencing. “The dam we plan to construct in Cebu approximately addresses a third of that water supply deficit.”

Prime Infra is expanding its water utility business in Cebu as the company starts supplying 80 million liters of water daily from its newly-opened Wawa dam to residents of Manila. Located 30 kilometers east of the capital, the dam can provide as much as 518 million liters of water daily, equivalent to 30% of the current supply for the eastern half Metro Manila, part of the franchise area assigned to Prime Infra’s Manila Water, when fully completed by 2025.

Besides water, Prime Infra is also bulking up on its energy assets. Earlier this month, the company completed the acquisition of a 45% stake in the Malampaya gas field in the West Philippine Sea. In joint venture with tycoon Leandro Leviste’s Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, its renewable energy unit is building what could be the world’s biggest solar farm (with a gross capacity of up to 3,500 megawatts) that would entail investments of more than $3 billion.

Funding for its projects would primarily come from the proceeds of its proposed initial public offering, Guillaume Lucci, president and CEO of Prime Infra, said. “From there we’ll see what the best solution is given the context of the market conditions and our needs.”

Razon through Prime Infra has also been investing in hydropower plants and waste management. He is also the controlling shareholder of global port giant International Container Terminal Services Inc. and Bloomberry Resorts, operator of the Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila. Razon has a net worth of $5.7 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time data.