Investors flock to ACEN’s maiden green bond issue
The inaugural sale of ACEN Corp.’s Asean green bonds garnered strong traction from investors as it raised P10 billion from this transaction.
In a disclosure to the local bourse, the power business of listed conglomerate Ayala Corp. said the peso-denominated fixed-rate green bonds were 8.6 times oversubscribed “as a result of robust demand for the issuance, with strong participation from leading institutional investors.”
It represents the first tranche of the shelf registration of ACEN’s Asean green bonds amounting to P30 billion, which obtained an issue credit rating of PRS Aaa with a “stable outlook” from local debt watchdog Philippine Rating Services Corp.
These bonds, carrying a fixed interest rate of 6.0526 percent per annum for a five-year tenor, are listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. The public offer ran from Sept. 9 to Sept. 15.
“We are grateful for the strong support of Philippine institutional and retail investors for the company’s maiden peso green bond issuance. The successful offering will help ACEN realize its vision of reaching 20 gigawatts of renewable [energy] capacity by 2030,” said ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia.
To date, ACEN has about 4,000 megawatts of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia.
“Amid the challenging macroeconomic environment, we are encouraged by the enthusiastic take-up of our bonds by the investing community. Our group is one of the country’s largest issuers of green bonds and we are happy to contribute to the development of our nation’s debt capital market with our maiden peso green bond issuance,” ACEN CFO and treasurer Cora Dizon said.
BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. served as the joint issue managers, as well as joint lead underwriters and bookrunners along with RCBC Capital Corp. and SB Capital & Investment Corp.
Asean green bonds are debt securities which comply with the Asean Green Bonds Standards, where the proceeds will be exclusively applied to finance or refinance, in part or in full, new or existing eligible green projects.
ACEN had said proceeds would be used to finance renewable energy projects in the Philippines, particularly the first phase of the San Marcelino solar farm in Zambales, the expansion of the Arayat-Mexico solar project in Pampanga and the first phase of its solar farm in Lal-lo, Cagayan.
