Basic Energy hunting for Asian private deals
By Victor V. Saulon, Sub-editor
BASIC Energy Corp. will be part of four renewable energy projects in Japan, Myanmar and Thailand as approved by its board and will buy stakes in various companies in the region, the listed company said on Friday.
It will buy a stake in Solmax Power Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company that has a portfolio of solar projects in Japan. Basic Energy said its board had approved a 10% equity investment in Solmax’s 14-megawatt (MW) solar plant in Japan.
“The equity investment is subject to satisfactory results of the full due diligence on the project, which is expected to be completed next month,” the listed company said.
In June, Basic Energy said it had made a refundable earnest deposit in Solmax to conduct due diligence. It placed the value of the deposit at 50 million Japanese yen.
Aside from the equity investment, a Thai company with a stake in Basic Energy has a unit – Vintage Holdings Japan – that holds the right to take a majority position in Solmax.
That company, Vintage Engineering Public Co. Ltd. (VTE), subscribed to shares in Basic Energy in February.
Basic Energy said its board had approved a 12.5% equity investment in VTE, whose units Vintage EPC Co. Ltd. and Vintage International Construction Co. had secured the engineering, procurement and construction contract of a 220-MW solar power plant in Minbu, Myanmar.
“To claim exclusive right to negotiate and finalize the terms of the investment, a refundable deposit will be remitted upon signing of the Investment Term Sheet. The covering shareholders agreement will then be signed upon favorable results of the due diligence process on the VTE companies and the EPC contract,” Basic Energy said.
Basic Energy has also made a 10% equity stake in an investing company majority owned by Vintage Holdings Japan. The investing company, which was not named, has a 25-MW biomass power plant project in Japan.
“A refundable deposit will be remitted upon signing of an Investment Term Sheet which gives Basic Energy the exclusive right to negotiate the terms of the investment and begin the 60-day DD (due diligence) process. Further, Basic Energy has been granted the option to increase its stake to 20%,” Basic Energy said.
The listed company said it had also made a 49% equity investment in V.O. Net Biodiesel Asia Co. Ltd., which is wholly owned by VTE and which operates a 1.2-MW solar power plant in Kalisin, Thailand.
“A refundable deposit will be remitted upon signing of an Investment Term Sheet which gives Basic Energy the exclusive right to negotiate the terms of the investment and begin the 60-day DD process,” Basic Energy said.
On Friday, shares in Basic Energy rose by 8.57% to P0.228 each.
