ACEN taking over Australian solar projects
ACEN Corp., the listed power business of Ayala Corp., is assuming full ownership of a development platform with major power projects in Australia under its belt after completing the acquisition priced at $173.089 million or P9.328 billion.
In a disclosure on Thursday, ACEN said its subsidiary ACEN Renewables International Pte. Ltd. (ACRI) signed the instrument of transfer with UPC Renewables Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd. (UPCAPH) to take over the joint venture company.
The said document will transfer the remaining 4,766 ordinary shares of UPCAPH in UPC-AC Energy Australia (HK) Ltd. to ACRI, representing the second tranche of this transaction. The first tranche occurred in March last year.
To seal the deal, ACEN paid $162.671 million (P8.769 billion) to purchase 11,916 ordinary shares in UPC-AC Energy Australia (HK) Ltd. and another $10.418 million (P561.673 million) for over 1 million ordinary class B shares in UPC Australia (HK) Ltd.
“The acquisition transforms the UPCAC Renewables Australia joint venture into ACEN Australia, the company’s first wholly owned development and operating platform outside of the Philippines,” said ACEN.
ACEN now fully owns the 521 megawatts (MW) New England solar farm and the 520 MW Stubbo solar farm in Australia, both under construction, along with the development pipeline of ACEN Australia spanning New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia.
“The transaction has a minimal effect on the ownership and capital structure of the company,” it said.
“The company will also gain a high-quality team who have a proven track record of delivering value to the business by being able to find opportunities and new projects,” it added.
The latest development will advance ACEN’s goal of becoming the largest listed renewable platform in Southeast Asia and reaching 20 gigawatts of renewable capacity by 2030.
It also aims to transition to 100 percent renewables by 2025 and plans to become a net zero greenhouse gas emissions company by 2050.
To date, ACEN has 4,000 MW of attributable capacity from owned facilities in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia.
