Ayala consolidates domestic, foreign energy businesses

AC Energy Inc., the Ayala group’s power generation platform, is consolidating its overseas and domestic businesses by ramping up stake in AC Energy Philippines Inc. (ACEPH) to 85 percent.

The Ayala group took over management of ACEPH in September 2019 by mustering an interest of 66.34 percent in the company formerly named Phinma Energy Corp.

With this latest move, ACEPH will again take a new name—AC Energy Corp.—and its authorized capital stock almost doubled to P48.4 billion from P24.4 billion.

“This transaction will firmly establish the company as Ayala’s energy platform both in the Phili­ppines and around the region,” AC Energy Chair Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in a disclosure.

“We are sensitive to the very difficult period our country is going through,” Zobel said. “However, we also want to reinforce our strong commitment to invest in much needed energy investments in the Philippines.”

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close within the year, involves a swap of AC Energy shares in its fully owned subsidiary Presage Corp. for additional primary shares in ACEPH that will be issued.

Presage holds the AC Energy’s international renewable energy portfolio while ACEPH had been designated as the Ayala group’s vehicle for their energy business in the Philippines.

The final issue price and the number of new shares are still being determined, but third-party valuator FTI Consulting Philippines Inc. put the the combined value of Presage and ACEPH at P97 billion.

AC Energy president Eric Francia said the combined platform would have an attribu­table capacity of around 1,500 megawatts, both in projects that are already operating and are still being built. Of such portfolio, renewable energy accounts for 60 percent or 900 MW.

“The company shall continue to focus on renewables expansion, as we move towards our 2025 goal of reaching 5 gigawatts of renewables capacity,” Francia said.