SPNEC to raise P10B via rights offer to fund massive solar projects

MANILA, Philippines — Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. will raise P10 billion by selling more shares a few months after going public to bankroll 10 gigawatts worth of solar energy projects.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the newly listed energy firm said it would file for a stock rights offering in the second quarter of this year. The timing of the offer would depend on how quick the company can win regulatory approvals.

SPNEC is yet to disclose the terms for the stock rights offer, proceeds from which will be combined with capital raised during the firm’s initial public offering last December and possible private placements with institutional investors to complete the amount needed to finish its solar projects.

SPNEC’s 10-GW plan represents an almost 10-fold increase in the country’s grid-connected solar capacity of 1.021 GW as of December 2020, based on Department of Energy figures.

“We need at least P10 billion to complete the development of 10 GW of solar projects,” Leandro Leviste, founder of Solar Philippines Group, said in a statement.

“This is only a small percent of project cost, but we believe is a large percent of the value, with development being the bottleneck for the energy transition of the Philippines,” Leviste added.

Apart from the rights offering, SPNEC’s board of directors also approved on Monday the purchase of land as part of its developments. The company’s developments are located primarily in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Tarlac, Batangas and Quezon, where its parent Solar Philippines has spent the past years consolidating land suitable for solar in relative proximity to the Greater Manila Area.

The developments in these provinces would be aided by a potential asset-for-share swap between SPNEC and its parent company, which controls 20 solar project companies. SPNEC’s directors are yet to give a go-signal to this plan, which is subject to a third-party valuation and fairness opinion by an independent financial advisor.

Overall, the fundraising activities and asset-for-share swap are all part of SPNEC's plan to boost its authorized capital stock to 50 billion shares.

On Tuesday, shares in SPNEC shed 4.57% to close at P2.09 each, tracking losses in the main index.