Citicore trims IPO size after Sy-led firm’s entry

MANILA, Philippines — Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) of tycoon Edgar Saavedra has trimmed the size of its initial public offering (IPO) to just P7.97 billion from P12.9 billion following its landmark share sale deal with the Sy family’s SM Investments Corp.

Based on its April 3 prospectus, CREC will offer up to 1.76 billion common shares, from 2.9 billion originally, for P3.88 each. It also provided an overallotment option of up to 267.86 million shares, from 435 million previously, in case of strong demand.

The offer period will run from May 20 to May 24, and CREC plans to list its shares on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 31, which will make it the second IPO this year after OceanaGold Philippines.

READ: BIZ BUZZ: IPO curtain-raiser rethinks timing

OceanaGold, the local counterpart of Toronto-listed OceanaGold Corp., has scheduled its stock exchange debut on May 7.

Sale to SM Investments

The P5-billion reduction in CREC’s IPO size is equivalent to the amount it raised from selling 1.884 million of its shares in Citicore Energy REIT Corp. (CREIT) to SM Investments last month.

These shares represent a 28.79-percent stake in the country’s first and largest renewable energy REIT landlord, but CREC will remain its single largest shareholder with a 32.88-percent stake.

Proceeds from CREC’s IPO will be used to bankroll its plans to set up 1,583 megawatts of solar power projects across eight locations in the country.

READ: Citicore raises P5B from share sale to SM Investments

CREC president and CEO Oliver Tan previously said they would earmark P35 billion in capital outlays this year for its solar power expansion.

The company aims to build 1 gigawatt of solar energy capacity annually as part of a five-year plan.