Citicore Renewable’s P12.9-B IPO OKd

MANILA, Philippines  —Tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Citicore Renewable Energy is moving closer to launching the country’s first initial public offering (IPO) in 2024 after its P12.9-billion listing was cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In statement on Wednesday, the corporate regulator announced the approval of the company’s registration of 10.04 billion common shares. The Philippine Stock Exchange’s go-signal is also needed before the IPO can push through.

Citicore Renewable is the country’s second-largest solar power producer after the Ayala Group’s ACEN.

It is aiming to sell about 2.9 billion shares at up to P3.88 each from March 4-8 this year, with proceeds to be used for solar capacity expansion and battery energy storage systems (BESS), the company said in an earlier deal prospectus.

READ: Citicore Renewable kicks off 2024 IPO season with P12.9-B offer

Another 435 million shares will be sold by Saavedra’s Citicore Power for post-IPO price stabilization activities. The Philippine Stock Exchange listing date is March 15, 2024, the prospectus showed

“Citicore expects to net more than P10.71 billion from the primary offer for capital expenditures and pipeline development for solar energy power plants, and general corporate purposes,” the SEC said in the statement on Wednesday.

Renewable energy portfolio

Apart from solar and battery storage, Citicore Renewable listed in its prospectus long-term plans to build a 3.1-GW pipeline of offshore wind energy projects.

The company said it has seven offshore wind service contracts, although there is currently no formal regulatory framework for offshore wind.

UBS AG (Singapore) was tapped as sole global coordinator and the joint bookrunner with BDO Capital & Investments Corp. BDO Capital is also the domestic lead manager for the IPO.

READ: Citicore Group inks 700-MW solar module supply deal

Citicore Renewable is the first of at least six IPOs for 2024, which the PSE expects will raise around P40 billion. The bourse’s overall capital raising target for the year is P175 billion, which is a 24 percent increase over 2023.

Nicky Franco, head of research at stock brokerage house Abacus Securities, said it is unlikely for “high-profile” IPOs such as the Sy family’s SM REIT and tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. to push through this year amid the long-term trend of net foreign outflows from the market.

“We think that SM REIT and Prime Infra will wait [to launch their IPOs] until 2025,” Franco said during a briefing with clients last Friday.