Renewable energy developer Solar Philippines Inc. on Tuesday announced the appointment of a new chief executive as part of preparations for public listing.
Solar Philippines appointed industry veteran Marty Crotty as the new president and chief executive after signaling a strategic direction to bring onboard partners and professionals to prepare for a public listing.
Leandro Leviste, who established the company seven years ago, will remain as Solar Philippines chairman and sole shareholder.
“I will remain as the company’s shareholder and help select the right partners for our projects in preparation for the IPO. We will make further disclosures on the IPO plans at the appropriate time,” Leviste said.
“These steps are in line with the start of our new company focused on investments in provincial real estate that are symbiotic with our solar projects,” he said.
Leviste earlier said the company was preparing for the IPO. “Before that, we are completing the development of our projects now with a focus of doing so with our partners,” Leviste said.
Crotty, an American with family ties in the Philippines, served as president of AES Asia, where he managed power plants in Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, including the Masinloc coal plant which was acquired by San Miguel Corp.
Crotty also served as CEO of Upwind Solutions, a wind asset management company backed by Silicon Valley investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Since then, he has managed the operations of over 10 gigawatts (10 megawatts) of solar and wind plants in North America at EDF Renewables, one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies.
“Given the amazing progress Solar Philippines has made on its pipeline of development assets, I’m extremely grateful to have the opportunity to lead the team with a laser focus on achieving Leandro’s vision to accelerate the transition to renewable energy,” Crotty said.
This is the first time that a power industry veteran has led Solar Philippines since its founding in 2013 by then college student Leviste.
The company has since grown with over 2,000 employees and more than 10 GW in development in the Philippines and internationally.
It recently shifted its strategy from competing with others in the power industry to collaborating with several local and foreign conglomerates to execute an ambitious solar pipeline.
“We’re now finding more and more partners and colleagues who can see the time for solar in the Philippines is now. With our new partners and colleagues, we are more optimistic than ever that we can deliver the largest portfolio of renewable energy projects in Southeast Asia,” Leviste said.
