Solar PHL Nueva Ecija sets IPO price at P1 per share
BY VG CABUAG AND LENIE LECTURA – NOVEMBER 24, 2021
from Business Mirror
Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. (SPNEC) has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at P1 per share, the maximum of its indicative range.
At the said price, the company will raise some P2.7 billion from its primary offering of 2.7 billion common shares.
The offer period is planned for December 1 to 7, with a tentative listing date on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on December 17, the company said.
Abacus Capital and Investment Corp. has been assigned as issue manager and lead underwriter and Investment Capital Corp. of the Philippines as participating underwriter for the deal.
Proceeds of the IPO will be used to complete the first 50 megawatt of the project and acquire land to expand the project beyond 500 MW, in support of SPNEC’s plan to develop the largest solar project in Southeast Asia.
Some P1.3 billion of the proceeds will be used to fund the construction of its Phase 1A of its project and the remaining P1.3 billion will be used to acquire land for future expansion.
The total project cost for its first phase is at P4.87 billion, a quarter of which will be funded via equity and the remaining 75 percent will be funded via debt.
The total project cost of the company’s 500 megawatt solar PV power project is estimated to cost around P11.9 billion, inclusive of estimated financing and capitalization costs and value added taxes but are exclusive of any IPO related fees and expenses, the company said in its prospectus.
“We are thankful for this opportunity to launch the Solar Philippines group’s first public offering, which we see as a favorable signal for future offerings,” Solar Philippines Chairman Leandro Antonio L. Leviste said.
This is the first time that a company has been approved to list under the Supplemental Listing and Disclosure Requirements for Renewable Energy Companies approved by the PSE in 2011. These rules allow development-stage project companies to list, subject to certain requirements including having a valid and subsisting service contract awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE).
“I am pleased that PSE can support a renewable energy (RE) company with its fund raising requirements. The need for RE is more amplified now as more companies are turning to RE as part of their climate action program,” PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.
Solar Philippines incorporated SPNEC in 2016, and secured a DOE service contract to develop the project in 2017. The company plans to start construction of the project before the end of 2021.
The Nueva Ecija project would be the largest among the first 1 gigawatt of projects of Solar Philippines planned to be operating by 2022.
The other projects include one in Batangas with an operational 63 MW in partnership with Korea Electric Power Corp.; one in Tarlac, being expanded to up to 200 MW in partnership with Prime Infra of the Razon Group; and another two in Batangas and Cavite with a combined capacity of 140 MW planned to be fully operational by 2022.
SPNEC said it may yet tap again the equity market once it has completed the first 50 MW of its 500MW solar project in Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija.
“As with our other projects, once we advance construction of the first part of the plant , we are able to get the debt financing on better terms than if it were a completely green field financing.
We like to emphasize that when implementing a solar project, it is the interconnection of the plant to the national grid that is often the most delicate part of execution, but once connected the addition of more solar panels is relatively easy construction process,” said Leviste in a television interview.
“We’ve decided to make Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. our group’s first venture into the public markets because this is the asset that we are proudest to showcase: a site where will rise the largest solar project in the Philippines, with potential for further expansion given its proximity to Manila.”
