KKR Rebuffed on First Gen as Philippine Central Bank Signals Gradual Disinflation

First Philippine Holdings' rejection of KKR's offer for First Gen shares is a notable rebuff of one of the world's largest private capital allocators and underscores a widening valuation gap between sponsor bid levels and controlling-family reserve prices in Southeast Asian infrastructure assets. Power generation platforms with long-dated contracted cash flows have been a core private-equity target across the region, but incumbent holders are increasingly unwilling to transact at multiples set against elevated local funding costs. That funding backdrop was reinforced by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which said inflation would ease only gradually and that risks remain tilted to the upside. The guidance pushes back against market pricing for a faster easing path and keeps the peso discount rate anchored higher for longer — which mechanically suppresses the discounted cash flow valuations sponsors can justify. For investors, the message is that Philippine asset repricing is stalled in both directions: sellers will not accept current bids, and the monetary conditions required to lift those bids are not arriving on the timeline the market had assumed.