MRC Allied Inc. is in talks to acquire an operating renewable energy project worth P3 billion to P6 billion to jumpstart its venture into clean energy sector, a top executive said.
MRC Allied president Gladys Nalda said in a recent interview the company expected to complete a due diligence on an existing renewable energy project over the next two weeks, with the acquisition price remaining the contentious issue to be resolved.
“We think it should not be more than P6 billion,” Nalda said. Nalda did not give additional details on the planned acquisition.
The move to acquire an operating renewable energy project is in line with the company’s thrust to hit a portfolio of 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects by 2022.
“Aside from building our own facilities, we are also open to acquisitions of operating renewable facilities or those that are in pre-operating stage of development,” Nalda said.
She said acquiring operating projects would enable to the company to readily generate revenues and cashflow. The company received offers from various companies for possible buyout or joint venture partnerships in solar, wind and biomass projects.
MRC Allied earlier said the rollout of 1,000 MW of clean power projects was estimated to cost P100 billion.
The company is currently developing two projects”•the Clark solar project in Clark Green City in Pampanga which is estimated to cost P5 billion and the Naga project in Naga City, Cebu which will require P3 billion in investments.
The company plans to raise P1 billion via a private placement and another P1 billion from the issuance of preferred shares this year to finance the initial pre-development of the two projects.
The company expects net income to significantly increase starting 2019, or once the two ongoing projects are completed. From P619 million net income in 2019, MRC expects profit to hit P2.32 billion by 2022 and P3.87 million by 2024.
MRC has been one of the best performing stocks this year, after it recently hit a 52-week high of P0.48 per share from P0.13 as of end-December 2016.
