ACE plans P876-M re-IPO

ACE Enexor Inc. of the Ayala Group is aiming to raise as much as P876 million in fresh funds from the follow-on (FOO) or re-initial public offering (re-IPO) of shares.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, ACE Enexor said its executive committee had approved the sale of up to 74 million shares to the public for P10 to P11.84 apiece.

It is up to the management to finalize the terms of the offering, including but not limited to the size, price and schedule thereof as well as other documents and engagements necessary to undertake this transaction.

It was also authorized to appoint transaction advisors, including the joint bookrunners and lead underwriters, counsels and auditors for the review of financial statements and legal counsels for the preparation of various documents to file its application with the relevant regulators.

Stockholders’ approval

During its 2022 annual stockholders’ meeting scheduled for April 25, ACE Enexor will tackle the issuance and listing of shares pursuant to its planned FOO.

ACE Enexor earlier obtained the Department of Energy’s (DOE) approval for the plan to drill an appraisal well off Palawan by next year.

Based on separate regulatory filings by consortium members ACE Enexor and Pryce Corp., the agency found their proposal to drill Cinco-1 viable and in line with the benchmarks for a floating liquefied natural gas development.

ACE Enexor said the DOE had approved its oil spill contingency plan as well as its health, safety and environment plan. They were also told to submit a digital copy of the geological model of the Cinco prospect and a drilling montage prior to the commencement of the drilling activity.

The drilling of the appraisal well in Service Contract 55 is estimated to commence by April 2023, a year before the one-year force majeure period lapses.

SC55 is a deepwater block off southwest Palawan Basin covering 9,880 square kilometers in offshore West Palawan. It is operated by Palawan55 Exploration & Production Corp., a subsidiary of ACE Enexor that holds a 75-percent participating interest while Pryce Corp. unit Pryce Gases Inc. owns the remaining 25 percent.

Should their plan push through, the consortium may be the first to conduct drilling operations in the West Philippine Sea after the government’s lifting of the moratorium in October last year.

The consortium had originally planned to start drilling at least one well within the first two years of its appraisal period which started in April 2020. INQ

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