AC Energy raises $300M from green dollar bond issue
By Alena Mae S. Flores – November 27, 2020 at 08:05 pm
from manilastandard.net
AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp., formerly AC Energy Inc., the energy platform of Ayala Corp., said Friday it issued US dollar-denominated senior perpetual fixed-for-life (non-deferrable) green bonds worth $300 million.
“We are very pleased to see the high level of investor confidence in AC Energy and the strong market response to our perpetual green bond, following our maiden green bond in 2019. We believe that this will power AC Energy in its pursuit to scale up renewable investments in the region as we continue the transition to a low carbon portfolio,” AC Energy president and chief executive Eric Francia said in a statement.
AC Energy said it would use the net proceeds from the bonds to fund a tender offer and $400-million senior perpetual fixed-for-life notes callable in December 2022, and the balance to finance eligible green energy projects.
The bonds carry a fixed coupon of 5.1 percent. The issue represents the first Philippine fixed-for-life perpetual bond offering since November 2019 and the first public green bond out of the Philippines in 2020.
The company-guaranteed bonds were issued by AC Energy Finance International Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, under a $2-billion medium term note program.
The bonds, listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd., were certified as ASEAN Green Bonds by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 18.
The bonds were priced at 5.1 percent which was 30 basis points tighter than initial price guidance.
The company said the final order book volume exceeded $1.3 billion, which made it 4.33-times oversubscribed, from a wide range of high quality investors.
“We are grateful to have been met with such a positive reception among bond investors especially given the pandemic. This underscores the continued confidence investors have in AC Energy’s ability to execute in this challenging environment,” said AC Energy chief finance officer Cora Dizon.
AC Energy said the Green Bond Framework sets out well-defined guidelines for the use of proceeds for renewable energy projects, with comprehensive monitoring and reporting commitments.
BPI Capital Corp. acted as the sole global Coordinator for the transaction while BPI Capital Corp., Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Ltd., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. and UBS AG Singapore Branch are the joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the transaction, with the participation of China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp. and RCBC Capital Corp. as domestic lead managers.
