Inv Tricahue

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What it is

Inversiones Tricahue is a Chilean investment company whose sole purpose is holding and trading shares in Empresa Eléctrica Pehuenche S.A., a company engaged in generating and transmitting electric energy. It was incorporated on 28 September 1988.

Pehuenche itself owns and operates three hydroelectric plants — Pehuenche, Curillinque, and Loma Alta — with a total installed capacity of 699 MW. All three plants sit in the Maule River basin in south-central Chile.

In Pehuenche, Enel Generación Chile — the Enel group’s conventional-generation arm — holds 92.65% of the shares, while Tricahue holds 2.91%. Tricahue’s entire balance sheet is therefore a bet on the dividends and the asset value of that minority stake.

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Who owns it

LarrainVial Corredores de Bolsa is Tricahue’s largest single declared shareholder, with 28.48%. The company is composed primarily of former Pehuenche executives, with several investment vehicles linked to ex-industry insiders holding stakes above 1%.

Major shareholders include Asesorías e Inversiones Sobol Limitada, linked to general manager Claudio Lobos; Inversiones Avec Limitada, linked to board chair Alejandro Amenábar; and Los Ángeles Sociedad de Inversiones Limitada, linked to the Errázuriz Domínguez brothers. Insiders collectively hold 38.9% and institutions 34.3%, leaving a free float of roughly 26.8% (our calculation).

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Who runs it

The board is chaired by Alejandro Amenábar Tirado, with Rodrigo Tuset Ortiz as vice-chair, and directors including Ricardo Bachelet Artigues, Carlos Cáceres Solórzano, Juan E. Errázuriz Domínguez, Francisco Orrego Bauza, and Fernando Perramont Sánchez.

Alicia Ramírez Monardes serves as General Manager (Gerente General) as of early 2025. No CFO is separately disclosed in available public filings.

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The money, in plain words

Tricahue collects dividends from Pehuenche and books them as revenue — which is why it keeps 97.3% of every peso earned as profit, a net margin that would be spectacular in any operating business but is normal for a pure holding company with almost no costs. Its revenue fell 29% in FY 2025 versus FY 2024 (CLP 3.22 billion (US$4 mn) vs CLP 4.54 billion (US$5 mn); our calculation), directly tracking a fall in Pehuenche’s distributions.

For every peso of owners’ capital, Tricahue earned about 10 cents last year — a return on equity of 10.2%, adequate but not exceptional for a passive holder. The balance sheet carries essentially no financial debt (disclosed debt is nil), and cash on hand is a modest CLP 32.8 million (~US$36,200; our calculation), meaning the company holds virtually all its value in Pehuenche shares rather than liquid assets.

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What it is doing now

Tricahue has been pursuing arbitration against Enel Generación over its internal restructuring of Pehuenche, claiming the process damaged minority shareholders. A group of minority shareholders — Tricahue among them — previously blocked a proposed merger of Pehuenche into Enel Generación after obtaining a court injunction preventing Enel from voting its shares.

At the heart of the dispute is a 2012 transaction agreement under which Enel committed to use its best efforts to ensure Pehuenche paid out 100% of its profits as dividends — a clause Tricahue alleges Enel has breached. The litigation remains active and unresolved.

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What to watch

• Arbitration outcome: Tricahue’s lawyers put the potential compensation at CLP 73 billion (~US$93 million at the time) — almost double the company’s current market value. A ruling either way is the single biggest event risk.
• Pehuenche dividend policy: Every peso Pehuenche distributes flows straight into Tricahue’s income; any change to payout policy directly hits Tricahue’s revenue and, with it, the rationale for owning the stock.
• Merger attempt revival: Enel Generación has continued to pursue a path toward a Pehuenche merger; if the legal block is lifted, a forced buyout of Tricahue’s 2.91% stake could crystallise value — or destroy it, depending on the price.
• Revenue trend: The 29% revenue drop in FY 2025 (our calculation) warrants monitoring; a second consecutive year of decline would indicate Pehuenche’s distributions are structurally contracting.

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This is news, not investment advice.