Ayala-led oil and gas firm ACE Enexor Inc. has announced withdrawal from earlier plans to pursue stock rights offering (SRO) and follow-on-offering (FOO) via the local course due to "unfavorable" market condition at this time.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the listed company stipulated that its board of directors had approved the “cancellation of the conduct of stock rights offering” which was previously targeted to cover 105 million shares of the company at P10.00 per share.
The Ayala firm similarly shelved its FOO plan which it originally offered 74 million shares at the price range of P10.00 to P11.84 per share.
In line with that decision, the company had also withdrawn its earlier application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a three-year shelf registration of up to 649,870,100 primary common shares of ACE Enexor.
Another item decided by the company’s board to be called off was the planned share swap of up to 339,076,058 securities for certain properties of affiliate-firm ACEN Corporation; as well as the company’s request for confirmation of valuation for the property-for-shares swap that is also currently pending with the SEC.
Owing to that move then, ACE Enexor will similarly pull out its application for a certificate authorizing registration (CAR) with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) relative to the proposed share-swap transaction.
ACE Enexor is still calculating investment plans in both the upstream and downstream segments of the oil and gas sector, including the targeted petroleum exploration and drilling at a block straddling offshore Palawan basin.
On the downstream side of the business, the Ayala firm has been firming up partnership with American company Gen X Energy L.P. for the development of 1,100-megawatt liquefied natural gas (LNG) power project in Batangas. The 50:50 joint venture deal will ACE Enexor to subscribe to a total of “150,002 shares in BCE (Batangas Clean Energy Inc), for a total subscription price of P150,219,040.”
BCE is the special purpose vehicle company, wherein the Ayala company and Gen X Energy, will own 50 percent interest each. Their tie-up deal will be subject to regulatory approvals as well as warranted execution of definitive documentations.
The LNG venture of BCE has originally integrated the setting up of gas import facility, but the Department of Energy (DOE) recently declared that this component has already been shelved by the project proponent.
Nevertheless, the power plant component of the BCE investment blueprint is still seen advancing and this is targeted for completion in 2025.