Ayala-led ACEN Corporation has inked a contract with subsidiary ENEX Energy Corporation (ENEX) for the agreed shares subscription covering 177,544,011 non-voting preferred shares of the latter to be issued at a par value of P1.00 per share.
According to ACEN, the shares will be issued from ENEX’s increased authorized capital stock, and the deal will also allow the creation of non-voting preferred shares.
“The subscription price will be used to fund the operational requirements of ENEX, as well as transaction costs for the creation and issuance of the preferred shares,” ACEN noted.
The Ayala energy firm similarly emphasized that “this transaction is meant to help ENEX address its negative stockholders’ equity.”
ACEN qualified that the increase in the authorized capital stock and creation of the non-voting preferred shares of ENEX shall be subject to the warranted regulatory approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The subscription of shares by ACEN to its subsidiary ENEX was approved by its board in March this year – and that has been integrated in the deed of assignment which also covered the advances made by ACEN to ENEX.
The direct ENEX receivables assigned to ACEN amounted to P171.3 million, while the aggregate amount hovered at P177.5 million.
ACEN, in particular, indicated that the shares subscription would entail “additional investment in a subsidiary,”—which will serve as funding support for the projects being lined up by ENEX in the oil and gas sector.
ENEX has been targeting upstream ventures in the country’s oil and gas industry, including exploration prospects at its awarded petroleum blocks in the Northwest and offshore West Palawan basins.
The Ayala group has also previously targeted investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, which is seen as the perfect technology coupling to support the variability of renewables.