AC Energy Corporation (ACEN), the energy investment platform of the Ayala group, is queuing up to 2.0 billion primary shares for its follow-on offering (FOO) that shall be priced at P6.00 to P8.20 per share.
The company said its FOO had already been green-lighted by its Executive Committee, upon the delegation of its board of directors. By far, this will be the third installment of the five-step fund raising activity and corporate restructuring that the Ayala firm is pursuing.
ACEN, in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), has stated that its FOO was approved on Thursday (February 4) for “primary shares issuance size of up to 2.0 billion shares, with secondary shares to be included as part of the total offering size to be determined at a later date.”
With the targeted completion of the FOO by the middle of this year, AC Energy President and CEO Eric T. Francia told reporters recently that their cash raising activity will already be shored up to P30 billion.
The first two fund raising activities of the company had been from the initial fund injection of Singaporean wealth fund GIC Private Ltd. for P12 billion; and the recent one was the conclusion of its stock rights offering (SRO) which fetched proceeds of around P5.37 billion.
For the FOO, Francia indicated that the size corresponds to the aim of the Ayala group to retain at least 62 to 65-percent equity ownership in ACEN; while expanding the base of public shareholdings in the company.
GIC, for its part, will complete its P20 billion capital infusion until yearend, with additional purchase of shares from ACEN’s parent firm AC Energy and Infrastructure Corporation (ACEIC), so it can corner 17.5-percent stake in the Ayala-led energy investment platform.
On the proceeds from its recent SRO, ACEN stated that this will be funneled to at least four ongoing solar power projects that the company will be bringing on stream between this year to next year.
The Ayala company is beefing up its portfolio of renewable energy projects not just in the Philippine market, but also in offshore domains of Australia, India, Vietnam and Myanmar.
It is currently pursuing mostly solar farm installations in the Philippines; while it is a mix of wind and solar developments in its targeted international markets.