Aboitiz Power Corp. on Thursday said it filed its application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the issuance of P12 billion in fixed-rate retail bonds, which the company will issue later this year in either one or two series.
The said issuance is part of the P30 billion in debt paper shelf registration which the SEC approved in March.
“The proceeds of the bonds will be used to refinance the 2020 series E Bonds maturing in 2022, partially fund the equity contributions for the construction of the 74-megawatt solar power plant in Pangasinan province, general corporate purposes and other future renewable projects,” the company said in its disclosure.
AboitizPower intends to list the bonds with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.
The company appointed BDO Capital and Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp. and Security Bank Capital Investment Corp. as joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners.
Earlier this week, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) announced that it will sell 25.01 percent of its stake in AboitizPower for at least $1.46 billion in cash to JERA Asia Pte Ltd., Japan’s largest power generation company.
AEV is selling some 1.84 billion common shares in the power unit, which accounts for a chunk of the holding firm’s revenues.
“The transaction and the resulting interest allow AboitizPower to benefit from the experience and expertise of Japan’s largest power generator, and releases significant cash proceeds to AEV that allows it to pursue the Aboitiz Group’s growth objectives,” the company said.
JERA will make a onetime payment in cash to Aboitiz Group at the close of the transaction.
The Aboitiz family’s privately held parent company has also agreed to sell an additional 1.99 percent stake in AboitizPower, bringing JERA’s total ownership to 27 percent.
AEV said the valuation of the shares was undertaken by JERA following due diligence review of AboitizPower’s assets.
AboitizPower Corp. said it will explore the possibility of investing in wind projects in countries where JERA is present.
The two companies are expected to explore collaboration in many power projects in line with AboitizPower’s goal of achieving a 50:50 clean energy and thermal capacity mix by 2030. AboitizPower is earmarking P190 billion in the next 10 years to build an additional 3,700 megawatts to achieve the goal.
Apart from wind and hydrogen power, AboitizPower is also exploring synergies with JERA in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) business. The power firm earlier revealed plans to participate in the next competitive bidding of the power requirements of the Manila Electric Co., offering LNG as the fuel source.