AC Energy Corp., a unit of Ayala Corp., is raising $400 million from the issuance of green bonds to refinance renewable energy expansion.
AC Energy said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday wholly-owned subsidiary ACEN Finance Ltd. successfully set the terms of the US dollar-denominated senior guaranteed undated fixed-for-life green bond at an aggregate principal amount of $400 million, with a fixed coupon of 4 percent for life with no step-up and no reset, priced at par.
“We are delighted by the overwhelming support for ACEN’s green bond offering. This helps accelerate our aggressive renewables expansion and enables the green-led recovery,” said AC Energy president and chief executive Eric Francia in a statement.
The bonds will be issued by ACEN Finance under its $1.5-billion medium-term note program and will be guaranteed by AC Energy. The bonds will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading platform.
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 25 confirmed the bonds complied with the requirements under the ASEAN Green Bonds Circular and qualified as ASEAN Green Bond Issuance.
AC Energy said the pricing for the bonds at 4 percent was 45 basis points tighter than the initial price guidance.
It said the final order book volume exceeded $2 billion, or more than five-times oversubscribed, attracting a wide range of high-quality investors.
“This is another landmark deal that demonstrates strong investor confidence in the company’s strategic thrust to be a forerunner in the renewable energy sector and sustainable investing,” said ACEN chief finance officer Cora Dizon.
Upon issuance, the net proceeds from the bonds will be used to finance or refinance, in whole or in part, new or existing eligible green projects, in accordance with AC Energy’s Green Bond Framework, which sets out well-defined guidelines for the use of proceeds for renewable energy projects, with comprehensive monitoring and reporting commitments.
The company said these RE developments could be located in the Philippines or offshore.
BPI Capital Corp. is the sole global coordinator for the transaction, while BPI Capital, Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG Singapore Branch, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte., Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte., and UBS AG Singapore Branch are the joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the transaction, with the participation of China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., and RCBC Capital Corp. as domestic lead managers.
AC Energy has about 2,600 megawatts of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia. The company’s renewable share of capacity at 80 percent is among the highest in the region.
The company aims to be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, with a goal of reaching 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025.