BIZ BUZZ: Anchor investors locked in

Alternergy Holdings Corp.—the renewable energy company founded and controlled by former Energy Secretary Vince Perez—recently set its initial public offering (IPO) at a 15-percent discount to its maximum indicative price, meaning it will raise a total of P1.6 billion in the first IPO in the local bourse this year.

So what’s so special about the company? What separates it from other renewable energy stocks out there? Well, we’re told that it offers the prospective investor a multilayered portfolio in the wind, solar, run of river and battery storage subsectors.

Plus, the company’s experienced team led by Perez were the pioneers who built the Bangui Bay wind farm in Ilocos Norte province during the incumbency of then Gov.—now President—Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

This IPO has been in the works for at least two years now, we’re told. And during this time, Perez and his team have quietly attracted “sophisticated investing families” to participate in the offer.

The so-called book building phase has, in fact, been going on unofficially for several months now, with several “anchor investors” now committed to the offer—one being a government pension fund (not very hard to guess which one, of course).

Another is the founder of a popular fast food chain who is investing in the firm in a personal capacity.

The family office of a former senior energy official is also rumored to be an anchor investor.

Finally, we heard several schoolmates of Perez from Xavier School, his alma mater, are participating in a big way in Alternergy’s IPO.

Of course, since it’s a relatively small company—for now—the members of Alternergy’s underwriting syndicate are part of a close-knit group with prior links to Perez.

Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines is led by Val Bagatsing, an ex-officer of International Finance Corp. that invested in the successful IPO of the geothermal company Energy Development Corp., where Perez was an independent director.

BDO Capital, led by Ed Francisco—a fellow Wharton schoolmate of Perez—is the investment bank of BDO Unibank, where the Alternergy founder sits as an independent director.

The third underwriter, Unicapital Inc., was the underwriter of the highly successful IPO of Injap Sia’s DoubleDragon Corp., where Perez also sits as an independent director.

Of course, none of these capital raising activities are new for Perez who, before he became Energy Secretary, was a successful investment banker taking several companies public in London, New York and Singapore.

This time, it’s his turn to ring the opening bell when Alternergy gets listed on March 24.

The big question is … in which direction will the stock price go? Abangan!

—Daxim L. Lucas

NAC’s sustainability push

Listed Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) is taking sustainability reporting up a notch by changing the manner of documenting its emissions and managing the impacts of climate change on its business.

NAC said it was working with experts from the University of the Philippines Los Baños to include land use change emissions in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enabling them to “track a more accurate and complete GHG emission inventory, especially its direct emissions.”

It is also leveraging S&P Global Sustainable1’s services related to Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to evaluate its climate-related risks focusing on transition and physical risks.

The mining company expressed its support for TCFD, established by international body Financial Stability Board. It provides recommendations on the types of information that companies disclose in assessing and pricing a specific set of risks, especially those related to climate change.

As of this writing, more than 1,500 financial institutions across 99 countries, responsible for assets of about $217 trillion, support this initiative.

“Our decision to support TCFD stems from our strong commitment to good governance and transparency, and is in line with our twin goals of becoming the premier ESG (environmental, social and governance) investment in the country and becoming one of the top 25 companies in the Philippine Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization by 2025,” said NAC president and CEO Martin Antonio Zamora.

“Using TCFD as one of our guideposts, we believe NAC will be in a stronger position to help charter a better future for the next generation as we prepare for and mitigate climate-related risks. Ever since we started, we have always been conscious of our role as stewards of the environment where we operate. Thus, our constant search for ways to improve our operations and our processes,” he added.

NAC senior vice president Jose Bayani Baylon said such efforts would help them craft a better risk management strategy and make sounder financial decisions since climate-related risks and opportunities are taken into account.

“Having a better understanding of the financial implications of climate change would not only help NAC but also our investors, as this would allow us to channel investments in more resilient and sustainable business models,” he added.

—Jordeene B. Lagare