By Arra B. Francia
Reporter
ENERGY Development Corp. (EDC) has completed its tender offer for its planned exit from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the Lopez-led company said shareholders holding a total of 2.01 billion common shares accepted the tender offer priced at P7.25 apiece. The enter tender offer size was 2.04 billion common shares.
The offer ran from Sept. 25 to Oct. 22.
Once the shares are crossed from the PSE on Nov. 5, the number of EDC shares held by the public will fall to 0.16%.
Prior to the tender offer, the Philippine Renewable Energy Holding Corp. (PREHC) also acquired 8.9 billion common shares in EDC in September 2017.
The buyback of shares from the public forms part of the company’s plan to voluntarily delist from the stock exchange. The company said this will help them pursue a corporate strategy that would require greater flexibility over factors such as its dividend policy and leverage. The delisting is also seen to support EDC’s long-term growth.
With the completion of the tender offer, the company will now require approval from the PSE on whether it has met the conditions to proceed with its delisting.
EDC is scheduled to delist from the PSE by Nov. 29.
The company is the country’s largest renewable energy producer, with a capacity of 1,472 megawatts (MW) from hydro, solar, and wind power apart from geothermal. It operates the 150-MW Burgos wind farm, the biggest in the country.
It also holds nearly 1,200-MW of geothermal capacity, which accounts for 61% of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity.
EDC’s parent firm First Gen Corp. has 3,490-MW under its portfolio, generating 21% of the country’s gross generation capacity.
The company saw its attributable profit drop by 27% to P3.37 billion in the first six months of 2018, amid flat gross revenues at P17.14 billion.
