AC Energy pegs FOO price at P6.50

MANILA, Philippines — AC Energy Corp. (ACEN) has set the price for its follow-on offering (FOO) slated next month where it is expected to raise up to P13 billion for its growth.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, ACEN said its executive committee set the offer price of its FOO at P6.50 apiece.

The price was set at the lower end of the FOO price range of P6 to P8.20 per share earlier set by the executive committee.

“The FOO is subject to compliance by the company with all the conditions prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange,” it said.

Based on the registration statement, the Ayala power unit is selling up to 2.01 billion common shares, consisting of 1.58 billion common shares for the primary offering, 330.248 million common shares for the secondary offering, and an over-subscription option of up to 100 million common shares.

ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia said the company is targeting to conduct the FOO by May 14.

The company is slated to commence the share sale on May 3 and list the shares on the PSE on May 14.

Proceeds from the offer will be used to refinance existing loans and fund the development of power projects, inorganic growth opportunities and other general corporate purposes.

The FOO is among ACEN’s planned capital raising activities this year.

In January, the Ayala firm completed its stock rights offer (SRO) where it sold a total of 2.27 billion common shares at P2.37 apiece for a total of nearly P5.4 billion.

ACEN also issued four billion shares to Arran Investment Pte Ltd., an affiliate of Singapore state fund GIC Private Ltd. last March where it raised an additional P11.88 billion to fund its various developmental and operating projects as well as potential acquisitions.

It is expected to conduct a secondary sale share to the GIC unit towards the end of the year.

Last year, ACEN’s board approved the investment of Arran Investment through the subscription of four billion primary shares via a private placement and purchase of secondary shares from parent AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp. (ACEIC), where Arran Investment would end up with a 17.5 percent ownership stake in ACEN.

ACEN earlier signed a deed of assignment with ACEIC to consolidate the Ayala group’s power assets here and abroad under one company.

Under the deed of assignment, ACEIC will subscribe to 16.69 billion shares at P5.15 per share, or P85.93 billion in exchange for ACEIC’s 1.7 billion common shares and 15.03 billion redeemable preferred shares in AC Energy International Inc. The shares will be issued out of its increase in authorized capital stock to P48.4 billion.

ACEN said the increase in its capital stock as well as the valuation of the property assigned by ACEIC to the ACEN are subject to the review and approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The infusion of the Ayala group’s international power assets in Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, India and Myanmar will add  1,400 megawatts (MW) in capacity to ACEN, increasing its attributable capacity to 2,400 MW once completed.