AC Energy Corp. (ACEN), the energy arm of Ayala Corp., has raised nearly $1 billion in fresh capital this year, which it can use to achieve its renewables capacity target of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2025.
This after its wholly owned unit ACEN Finance Ltd. successfully raised $400 million from the issuance of senior guaranteed undated green bonds, with a fixed coupon of 4 percent for life, with no step-up and no reset, priced at par.
“Including the company’s P5.4 billion stock rights offering (SRO), P10.3 billion follow-on offering (FOO), and P11.9 billion primary share investment by GIC affiliate Arran Investment Pte. Ltd. (Arran), ACEN has now raised a total of close to $1 billion in fresh capital in 2021, which it can use to fund its goal of 5,000 megawatts in attributable renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2025,” said the power firm Thursday.
The net proceeds from the green bonds will be used to finance or refinance new or existing “green” projects, such as solar, on shore and offshore wind, and geothermal with direct emissions of less than 100g CO2/kWh. This is in accordance with the company’s Green Bond Framework (GBF), which sets out well-defined guidelines for the use of proceeds for renewable energy projects.
“We believe that this Green Bond issuance will further empower us to scale up RE investments and achieve our vision of becoming the largest listed renewable energy platform in Southeast Asia,” said ACEN President and CEO Eric Francia.
ACEN said the strong reception to the green bonds from the debt capital markets shows investors’ faith in the company, despite the challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The green bonds are issued by ACEN Finance Limited under its $1.5-billion medium-term note program, guaranteed by ACEN, and are listed on Singapore Exchange Securities Trading.
BPI Capital Corp. is the Sole Global Coordinator for the transaction, while BPI Capital Corporation, Credit Suisse (Singapore) Limited, Deutsche Bank AG Singapore Branch, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte., Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte., and UBS AG Singapore Branch are the joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the transaction, with the participation of China Bank Capital Corporation, First Metro Investment Corporation, PNB Capital and Investment Corp., and RCBC Capital Corp. as domestic lead managers.
Last month, AC Energy said it may embark on floating solar power and offshore wind power projects to help the country attain its RE goals.
“We are aware of several companies developing floating solar, including ourselves. There’s a lot of potential. Laguna Lake, for example, is a great location for floating solar,” said Francia.
The company is already preparing to sort out the necessary permits to pursue its interest in a floating solar power project, which, he said, could be done in the next two to three years.
