AC Energy Corporation, the energy platform of Ayala Corporation, one of the Philippines’ most diversified conglomerates, has completed its follow-on offering amounting to 13 billion pesos (US$272 million), which generated a strong demand from both domestic and international investors.

In a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on May 17, the company says it sold 2.01 billion common shares at 6.50 pesos apiece. The offering consisted of 1.58 billion shares sold pursuant to the primary offer, 330 million shares sold by AC Energy and Infrastructure Corporation (ACEIC) and Bulacan Power Generation Corporation pursuant to a secondary offer, and an over-subscription of 100 million secondary shares sold by ACEIC.

The primary shares were listed on the PSE on May 14, bringing AC Energy’s total outstanding shares to 21.54 billion with a market capitalization of over 150 billion pesos.

About 80% of the base offer shares were offered to qualified institutional buyers, while the remaining 20% were placed out to eligible trading participants of the PSE. The offer was significantly oversubscribed, driven by the institutional tranche, as high-quality domestic and international institutional investors locked in demand for AC Energy. The offer also saw a significant participation from PSE trading participants and retail investors.

AC Energy chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala says the results of the follow-on offering demonstrate a strong vote of confidence in AC Energy’s strategy to rapidly expand its renewables business across the region. “With a much stronger balance sheet, AC Energy is in an excellent position to roll out the much-needed investments in renewable projects and help accelerate the green-led recovery,” he adds.

The follow-on offering is the latest of AC Energy’s capital-raising activities for the year to fund its target of 5,000MW of renewable energy capacity by 2025. The company has raised 27.5 billion pesos of fresh capital this year, consisting of the 5.4 billion pesos stock rights offering in January, the 11.9 billion pesos private placement to GIC affiliate Arran Investment in March, and the 10.3 billion pesos raised from primary shares in the follow-on offering.

BPI Capital Corporation was the sole global coordinator, underwriter and joint bookrunner of the follow-on offering, while CLSA and UBS acted as the international joint bookrunners.

AC Energy recently released its first-quarter 2021 earnings, reporting a net income of 829 million pesos for the period. This represented a 54% increase year-on-year, reflecting strong performance of the company despite the pandemic. Attributable output grew 26% from the additional operating capacity acquired in the previous year.

AC Energy president and CEO Eric Francia attributes the strong first-quarter performance to value-accretive acquisitions and improved operating margins. “We expect the growth momentum to continue with our aggressive and sustained expansion in the renewables space,” he says.