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CREC listing fuels 5-GW green energy target by 2028

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By Brix Lelis – June 8, 2024 | 12:00am
from The Philippine Star

CREC listing fuels 5-GW green energy target by 2028
Tycoon Edgar Saavedra, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Emilio Aquino and Philippine Stock Exchange president and CEO Ramon Monzon mark Citicore Renewable Energy Corp.’s listing with a bell-ringing ceremony.

MANILA, Philippines — The Megawide Group of tycoon Edgar Saavedra listed its third company on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, raising P5.3 billion to boost a five-gigawatt (GW)green energy target by 2028.

Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC), the country’s second public listing this year, saw its shares open slightly higher at P2.75 than the initial public offering (IPO) price of P2.70.

CREC offered 1.96 billion common shares — inclusive of the oversubscription option — and was said to have attracted both domestic and international institutional investors.

The latest offer, which ran from May 27 to 31, brought the total CREC shares listed on the PSE to about 8.93 billion common shares, with a market capitalization of P24.1 billion at the time of listing.

Proceeds from the issuance will be used to fund the firm’s capital expenditures and pipeline development for solar energy plants and battery energy storage systems.

“With this IPO, CREC will be able to deploy capital for the development of several solar and energy power plants that are ready to build or in advance development,” PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said.

“This will propel the company one step closer to its vision of powering a first-world Philippines with pure, renewable energy (RE) by contributing to the country’s RE requirements,” Monzon said.

CREC said 70 percent of the offer shares were earmarked for local and international investors, while the remaining 30 percent were issued to eligible trading participants and small retail investors.

The strong international support received by the firm includes an investment from MOBILIST, the United Kingdom government’s flagship program that supports infrastructure development and green transmission.

The MOBILIST’s maiden investment totaled approximately $12.5 million, CREC president and CEO Oliver Tan said in a press briefing.

“With the investments made during the IPO, we have gained even more confidence in our ability to develop and expand our green energy portfolio. These investments are integral to the country’s transition to a cleaner form of power,” Tan said.

UBS acted as the sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner, while BDO Capital and Investment Corp. served as the joint bookrunner and domestic lead manager.

CREC targets contributing around one GW of ready-to-build and under-construction solar energy capacity to the country’s mix annually in the next five years, Saavedra said.

“The country needs more renewable energy. We believe the team can deliver this 1,000 megawatts (MW) next year and then another 4,000 MW in the succeeding years,” he said.

The country’s second-largest solar power producer is Saavedra’s third company to be listed on the bourse following the successful IPOs of Megawide Construction Corp. in 2011 and Citicore Energy REIT Corp. in 2022.

The latest IPO also followed the May 13 debut of Didipio mine operator OceanaGold Philippines Inc., the country’s first public listing for 2024 and also the first by a mining company in over a decade.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently cleared the P478.4 million IPO of another RE firm, NexGen Energy Corp., touted to be the third public listing for 2024.

This year, the PSE is maintaining a target of at least six IPOs and around P175 billion in total capital raised. It recorded three IPOs, five follow-on offerings, five stock rights offerings and 11 private placements in 2023.

CREC shares closed unchanged at P2.70 each yesterday.

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