ACEN eyes up to P30 billion from stock rights offer

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led ACEN Corp. is returning to the capital market this year to raise up to P30 billion in fresh funds to further beef up its growth and expansion.

Following the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday, ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia told reporters that the board of directors authorized a stock rights offering (SRO) with an indicative floor price of P2.30 per common share.

The proceeds of the fundraising activity, Francia said, would be used mainly to support the “further expansion” of ACEN’s renewable energy projects as well as finance its maturing obligations.

ACEN CFO and chief strategy officer Jonathan Back said the SRO is expected to be completed in September this year.

An SRO is a capital-raising activity that allows existing shareholders of a publicly listed company to buy additional shares, usually at a discounted price.

In a stock exchange filing yesterday, ACEN said the common shares to be issued would be taken from its current unissued shares and the increase in its authorized capital stock to P58.4 billion from P48.4 billion.

The planned capital stock hike was approved by the ACEN board on March 10 and ratified by the company’s stockholders yesterday.

The company said the final terms and conditions of the SRO, including the issue size and entitlement ratio, would be “disclosed at the appropriate time and reflected in the final prospectus.”

In his message to ACEN stockholders, Francia reaffirmed the company’s commitment to leading the energy transition push in the Philippines and across the Asia-Pacific region.

“We will remain steadfast with our purpose and aspirations, notwithstanding the global headwinds and noise besetting sustainable initiatives,” he said.

As the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, ACEN wants to scale up its attributable renewables capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2030.

The company currently has a global generation portfolio of about seven GW spanning operational, under-construction and committed projects across the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, India and Laos.