ACEN raises P10 billion from maiden green bond issue

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. has raised P10 billion from the issuance of its maiden peso ASEAN fixed-rate green bonds.

The P10-billion ASEAN green bonds, which has a fixed interest rate of 6.0526 percent per annum for a five-year tenor, were listed yesterday on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) platform.

ACEN said the green bonds were 8.6 times oversubscribed as a result of robust demand for the issuance, with strong participation from leading institutional investors.

“We are grateful for the strong support of Philippine institutional and retail investors for the company’s maiden peso green bond issuance. The successful offering will help ACEN realize its vision of reaching 20 GW of renewables capacity by 2030,” ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia said.

Proceeds from the bond issuance will be used to finance the company’s renewable energy projects in the country.

These include the 283-megawatt direct current (MWdc) San Marcelino Solar I farm in Zambales, the 42-MWdc expansion of the 72-MWdc Arayat-Mexico Solar farm in Pampanga, as well as the construction of the 133-MWdc Cagayan Solar farm in Lal-lo, Cagayan.

The green  bonds due 2027 is under ACEN’s P30 billion debt securities program registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The green bonds comply with ASEAN Green Bond Standards, which require proceeds to be used exclusively for the funding of eligible green projects.

ACEN engaged Sustainalytics for a second-party opinion on the bonds’ alignment with the International Capital Market Association’s green bond principles.

The Philippine Rating Services Corp. has rated the green bonds PRS Aaa, the highest possible rating.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. served as the joint issue managers, while BDO Capital, BPI Capital, RCBC Capital Corp., and SB Capital & Investment Corp. were the joint lead underwriters and bookrunners for the transaction.

ACEN and its majority shareholder AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp., through their respective special-purpose vehicles, have raised an aggregate of $1.6 billion of green bonds since 2019 to support financing for its renewable energy investments and projects.

“Amidst the challenging macroeconomic environment, we are encouraged by the enthusiastic take-up of our bonds by the investing community,” ACEN CFO and treasurer Cora Dizon said.

“Our group is one of the country’s largest issuers of green bonds, and we are happy to contribute to the development of our nation’s debt capital market with our maiden peso green bond issuance,” Dizon said.

ACEN, the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, is seeking to grow its renewables capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

The company currently has 18 GW of pipeline across the region, which will help with the achievement of the company’s 2030 goals.