AC Energy & Infrastructure sells P9.3 billion worth of ACEN shares to GIC

MANILA, Philippines — AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp. (ACEIC) is selling  P9.3 billion worth of shares in subsidiary ACEN, the listed energy platform of Ayala Corp. (AC), to a unit of Singapore state fund GIC Private Ltd.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, AC said wholly owned unit ACEIC has signed a share purchase agreement with GIC’s affiliate Arran Investment Pte Ltd.

The deal covers the sale of 2.69 billion secondary ACEN shares at P3.4678 apiece.

The price was based on the pricing mechanism agreed by the parties in their Dec. 30, 2020 investment agreement.

“The sale of secondary ACEN shares to Arran is meant to implement the investment agreement that the parties signed on Dec. 30, 2020 to enable Arran to own 17.5 percent of the outstanding capital stock of ACEN post completion of ACEN’s follow-on offering and the infusion by ACEIC of its international assets into ACEN,” the disclosure said.

ACEIC said the secondary share sale is scheduled to be completed on Dec. 10, subject to applicable regulatory approvals.

Last year, ACEN’s board approved the investment of Arran  through the subscription of four billion primary shares via a private placement and purchase of secondary shares from parent ACEIC, with Arran  ending up with 17.5 percent ownership stake in ACEN.

The four billion shares were issued to Arran last March via private placement priced at P2.97 apiece for a total of P11.9 billion ($244.2 million).

Through the private placement, Arran ended up owning 20.04 percent of the issued and outstanding ACEN’s common shares. However, this also reduced ACEN’s public float from 24.96 percent to 19.96 percent and increased the foreign ownership level from 1.31 percent to 21.75 percent.

In May, ACEN conducted a follow-on offering where it sold 2.01 million common shares priced at P6.50 per share and raised P13 billion, diluting Arran’s stake in the company.

The Ayala Group’s energy platform is one of the fastest growing energy companies, with over $1 billion of invested and committed equity in renewable and thermal energy in the Philippines and around the region.

The company has over 2,600 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia. The company’s renewable share of capacity is at 80 percent, among the highest in the region.

ACEN aims to be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, with a goal of reaching 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025.