Ayala gets OK to increase stake in wind farm

The government’s competition watchdog gave the Ayala group the green light to acquire a stake in Philippine Wind Holdings Corp. (PhilWind), allowing AC Energy Philippines (ACEPH) to take majority control of wind farm operator North Luzon Renewables Energy Corp.

ACEPH said it received last Tuesday a notice from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), which said the deal was in order.

The Jan. 28 notice stated the transaction “will not likely result in substantial lessening of competition” in the power sector and that the PCC “[will] take no further action” about it.

In a regulatory filing, ACEPH said it was acquiring for P2.7 billion a 26-percent equity in PhilWind belonging to Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure (Pinai).

Pinai is a fund that the Government Service Insurance System launched in 2012 in partnership with the Asian Development Bank, Dutch pension fund asset manager Algemene Pensioen Groep and Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Asset.

With the acquisition, ACEPH will directly and indirectly own about 67 percent of North Luzon Renewables, which owns and operates an 81-megawatt wind farm in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.