ACEN acquiring P2 B-worth of additional shares in subsidiary

By Myrna M. Velasco – February 18, 2022, 2:22 PM
from Manila Bulletin

Ayala-led ACEN Corporation is acquiring P2.0 billion-worth of additional shares in its subsidiary Buendia Christiana Holdings Corporation (BCHC), which is into landbanking for sites that it will be utilizing for renewable energy projects.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), ACEN stated that it signed a subscription agreement with BCHC for the purchase of 3,015,000 common shares and 16,985,000 redeemable preferred shares.

“The additional capital will be used by BCHC to purchase real property required for various potential power projects,” the Ayala energy company has expounded.

The acquisition price per share for both the common and preferred shares had been pegged at P100.00 per share and the number of shares subscribed to summed up to 20 million shares.

The terms of payment, according to ACEN, shall comprise of P1.0 billion initial payment; and the balance shall be settled upon the capital call option of BCHC.

It was in June last year when ACEN first subscribed to 75,000,000 preferred A and 4,075,000 preferred B shares of BCHC on a par value of P0.10 per share.

The Ayala firm similarly indicated that BCHC is seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an increase on its authorized capital stock to P5.0 billion.

It qualified that such subsequent hike on its authorized capital will be filed “after the approval of BCHC’s current application for increase in authorized capital from P342.5 million from P1.35 billion.”

Acquisition of project sites has always been among the tricky part of project developments in the power sector, hence, the Ayala group has been strategically pursuing that via its BCHC subsidiary.

ACEN’s project developments are focused on renewable energy installations — primarily solar and wind farms and with eventual coupling to innovative technologies like battery energy storage system and hydrogen.