National Grid Corp. of the Philippines complied with the dispersal of ownership requirement under Section 8 of Republic Act No. 9511, which grants the company a franchise to operate the country’s transmission network.
Synergy Grid & Development Phils. Inc. said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it received the Energy Regulatory Commission order on NGCP’s listing compliance on June 24, but dated May 26.
The ERC said in the order that the acquisition by SGP of 40.20 percent of the outstanding capital stock of NGCP satisfied Section 8 of RA 9511.
SGP is a company listed in the PSE which met the minimum public ownership requirement under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PSE when it conducted a follow-on public offering to disperse at least 20 percent of its capital stock to the public in November 2021.
“When SGP acquired indirect ownership of 40.20 percent of the outstanding capital stock of NGCP, the ERC declared NGCP compliant with the requirement under Section 8 of Republic Act No. 9511,” SGP said.
Section 8 states that NGCP should make a public offering of its shares representing at least 20 percent of its outstanding capital stock or a higher within ten years from the commencement of operations.
It also stated that the listing in the PSE of any company that directly or indirectly owns or controls at least 30 percent of the outstanding shares of stock of NGCP should be considered fully compliant with the listing requirement.
The ERC said it did not limit NGCP’s compliance with the listing requirement. NGCP resorted to the second mode of compliance provided under its franchise based on the documents submitted.
“Therefore, when SGP acquired 67 percent of the total outstanding shares of stock of OneTaipan and Pacifica21, respectively, indirect ownership of 40.20 percent of the outstanding shares of stock of NGCP was acquired by SGP. Since SGP is a company listed in the PSE, NGCP complies with Section 8 of RA No. 9511,” it said.
NGCP holds the sole and exclusive concession and franchise for the Philippines’ transmission network operation. NGCP agreed to invest P440 billion across 211 projects in 14 years to serve the growing electricity demand in the country.