The structuring bank and arranger for the facility had been CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp. and CTBC Bank Co. Ltd. – and the loan had been extended along with five other foreign banks, namely Singapore branches of CTBC Bank Co. Ltd.; Malayan Banking Berhad; Chang Hwa Commercial Bank. Ltd.; Land Bank of Taiwan, and Mega International Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.
ACEN secures $150M ‘green’ term loan to finance Asia-Pacific projects
At a glance
Ayala-led ACEN Corporation had secured $150 million green term loan to bankroll the development of its pipelined renewable energy (RE) projects in the Asia Pacific region.
The credit facility will have a five-year repayment period; and this was availed of via its subsidiary ACEN Renewables International Pte. Ltd.
“The proceeds from this syndicated green term loan will support ACEN’s fast-growing presence in the Asia Pacific,” the Ayala firm said.
The structuring bank and arranger for the facility had been CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp. and CTBC Bank Co. Ltd. – and the loan had been extended along with five other foreign banks, namely Singapore branches of CTBC Bank Co. Ltd.; Malayan Banking Berhad; Chang Hwa Commercial Bank. Ltd.; Land Bank of Taiwan, and Mega International Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.
ACEN Group Treasurer Cecile Cruzabra noted that “the participation of different international banks in this transaction, which includes a long-term revolving facility, is a demonstration of the financial community’s strong confidence in ACEN’s leadership in the renewable energy sector and their full support for our growing pipeline outside our home market.”
Currently, the Ayala company has roughly 4,800 megawatts of attributable capacity – comprising of the operating assets as well as those that are still under construction, including signed agreements and competitive tenders that it already cornered.
Onward to 2025, ACEN vouched that it already “effectively surpassed its original goal of reaching 5 GW (gigawatts) of renewables,” hence, it is now advancing into its higher capacity target of 20GW by 2030.
The most aggressive expansion markets for the company are currently in the Philippines and Australia; while also continuing to explore new wave of opportunities in other key markets, like Vietnam.
Mike Alborta, senior vice president for Institutional Banking Group of CTBC, narrated that the loan transaction had been an offshoot of its effort on introducing to Taiwan investors last year.
In spearheading the loan procurement, he asserted that “we believe in ACEN’s story, its vision and aspiration to achieve 20 GW capacity by 2030,” adding that “the banks’ strong support for ACEN is a clear manifestation of their faithfulness to their respective sustainability goals and highest desires to reduce the threat of rising global temperature.”
Additionally, Sunny Sng, who is the head of Corporate Banking at CTBC Singapore Branch, emphasized that the loan syndicate was “oversubscribed” – and all the banks involved in the transaction are “committed to support ACEN in growing its international portfolio.”