Ayala energy arm sets tender offer, new notes offering

AC ENERGY, Inc. has called on investors on Wednesday to tap into the Ayala-led company’s senior green bonds under its recently upsized $2-billion medium-term note program.

In a stock market disclosure, its parent company Ayala Corp. said the energy arm had mandated a number of financial institutions as global coordinator, lead managers and bookrunners of a series of fixed-income investor calls on Nov. 18.

It said the dollar-denominated, senior green, fixed-for-life, perpetual notes will be issued and guaranteed by AC Energy unit AC Energy Finance International Ltd. The drawdown from the note program is via Regulation S, or offers often used for securities issued outside of the United States.

The issuer also announced a tender offer of $400-million senior fixed-for-life green undated notes and a capped tender offer of its existing $360-million senior unsecured green notes due 2024.

The combined tender offer will expire at 4:00 p.m., London time, on Nov. 26, 2020. The offer, according to the firm, is “subject to market conditions.”

AC Energy has more than $1 billion of invested and committed equity in renewable and thermal energy projects in the Philippines and in the region. It aims to exceed 5 gigawatt of attributable capacity and generate at least 50% of the energy from renewables by 2025.

For Wednesday’s investor call, AC Energy tapped BPI Capital Corp. as its sole global coordinator, joint lead manager and joint bookrunner for the new notes and tender offering.

The other joint lead managers and joint bookrunners are Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Ltd., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., and UBS AG Singapore Branch.

Shares in Ayala Corp. on Wednesday climbed 2.06% to close at P865.50 each. Its unit AC Energy Philippines, Inc., which accounts for the group’s local energy projects, saw its share price surge by 8.35% to close at P4.93 apiece. — Angelica Y. Yang