Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC will be investing 20 billion peso ($412.5 million) into AC Energy Philippines (ACEN), a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation’s energy platform AC Energy Inc, in exchange for a 17.5 per cent stake.
ACEN’s board of directors has approved the investment proposal by GIC’s affiliate, Arran Investment Pte Ltd, according to a statement on Wednesday.
The 17.5 per cent ownership acquisition is subject to the completion of ACEN’s stock rights offering (SRO) and follow-on offering, and the infusion of international business into ACEN by AC Energy.
The transaction will be implemented through a combination of subscription to 4 billion primary shares via a private placement and purchase of secondary shares from AC Energy, at 2.97 peso per share on a post-SRO basis.
The price represents a 25 per cent premium to the board-approved SRO price of 2.37 peso per share, the statement said.
Relevant parties, including ACEN, Arran Investment Pte Ltd, and AC Energy, are expected to sign an investment agreement and a shareholders’ agreement this month. The completion of the deal is slated for the first quarter of 2021.
AC Energy said it has invested around $2 billion in renewable and thermal energy in the Philippines and around the region. In 2019, the firm’s power portfolio registered an attributable capacity of over 1.8 GW in operation and under construction, spanning projects in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
AC Energy increased its attributable energy output in 2019 by 25 per cent to 3,500 Gigawatt hours, of which 50 per cent came from renewable energy sources.
This year, in addition to the involvement in two new solar plants in its home country worth $128 million, AC Energy has added two solar farms in India and has started building the largest wind farm in Vietnam.
In September, the company accepted a takeover offer from Iberdrola Group for its 20 per cent interest in the stapled securities of Australian Stock Exchange-listed Infigen Energy.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s GIC has also recently ramped up its renewable investments with financing deals for Greenko Energy Holdings and IndiGrid in India, and Japan Renewable Energy Corporation.
