AC Energy prices inaugural dollar green bond issue

By Alena Mae S. Flores – January 25, 2019 at 08:30 pm
from manilastandard.net

AC Energy Inc., Ayala Corp.’s  energy platform, set the terms of its inaugural US dollar-denominated senior green bond issuance amounting to $225 million.

The bonds carries a five-year tenor and a coupon of 4.75 percent per annum, priced at 99.451.

The bonds will be issued by AC Energy Finance International Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AC Energy, and will be guaranteed by AC Energy.It is a drawdown off a recently established $1-billion medium term note program. The bonds will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. The bonds have received pre-issuance certification as Climate Bonds under the Climate Bonds Standard. The Climate Bonds Standard Board of the Climate Bonds Initiative approved the certification of the bonds on January 14, 2019. The issue  will be the first publicly syndicated CBI-certified US dollar-denominated green bond in Southeast Asia.

The CBS certification provides assurance that proceeds from any issuance of bonds will be used to finance projects and assets that are consistent with delivering a low-carbon and climate resilient economy.

AC Energy’s Green Bond Framework sets out well-defined guidelines for use of proceeds for renewable energy projects, with comprehensive monitoring and reporting commitments.

“We are very pleased to see the success of our maiden Green Bond. This will enable AC Energy to scale up its renewable energy investments in the region,” said AC Energy chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in a statement.

AC Energy is one of the fastest growing energy companies with over $1 billion of invested and committed equity in renewable and coal power projects in the Philippines and around the region.