Ayala-led firm AC Energy Corporation (ACEN) has completed its P13 billion follow-on offering (FOO) at the local bourse, which it described to have been “warmly received by both Philippine and international investors.”

The FOO is part of the five-step corporate restructuring of the Ayala energy firm, which also included the capital injection of Singaporean wealth fund partner GIC as well as the targeted infusion of international assets into the Philippine corporate vehicle.

In the follow-on offering, ACEN offered 2.010 billion common shares at a price of P6.50 apiece – and that comprised of 1.580 billion shares on the primary offer; and 330 million shares unloaded by AC Energy and Infrastructure Corporation (ACEIC) and Bulacan Power Generation Corporation on a secondary offer.

There had also been allocation for oversubscription of 100 million secondary shares in the sale undertaken by ACEIC, which is the parent firm of ACEN.

“The offer was significantly oversubscribed, driven by the institutional tranche, as high quality domestic and international institutional investors locked-in demand for ACEN,” the company said.

According to ACEN, the primary shares had been listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on May 14 this year – and that hiked the firm’s total outstanding shares to 21.54 billion; as well as enabled the company to be appraised with a market capitalization of more than P150 billion.

The follow-on offering of ACEN had BPI Capital Corporation as its sole global coordinator, underwriter and joint bookrunner; while CLSA Limited and UBS AG Singapore Branch had been tapped as international joint bookrunners.

Fernando Zobel de Ayala, chairman of AC Energy, claimed that the outcome of the FOO was a “strong vote of confidence in AC Energy’s strategy to rapidly expand its renewables business across the region.”

He qualified that with the completion of the FOO, the balance sheet of ACEN had been further strengthened, hence, that puts it “in an excellent position to roll out the much-needed investments in renewable projects and help accelerate the green-led recovery.”

The Ayala company casts 5,000 megawatts of RE capacity to be installed until year 2025 – and these investments will be spread across markets that include the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia as well as India which is now being battered badly by the Covid-19 pandemic; and also some RE development targets in civil war-torn Myanmar.

AC Energy President and CEO Eric T. Francia cited the company’s strong financial performance in this year’s first quarter that logged an income of P829 million, with him specifying that it was “driven by value accretive acquisitions and improved operating margins.”

Onward, he asserted that “we expect the growth momentum to continue with our aggressive and sustained expansion in the renewables space.”