PSE, SEC approve IPO of Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have approved the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation (SPNEC), the developer of a 500 MW solar project that is planned to be the largest solar project in Southeast Asia.

SPNEC could raise up to Php 2.7 billion, with the first Php 1.3 billion raised primarily to be used to complete the first 50 MW of the project, and amounts raised in excess of Php 1.3 billion primarily to be used to acquire land to expand the project beyond 500 MW.

The offer period is planned for December 1 to 7, 2021, with a tentative listing date on the Main Board of the PSE on December 17, 2021, based on the Listing Notice posted on the PSE EDGE website.

“The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) has given the go signal for Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation (SPNEC) to conduct an initial public offering for up to 2.7 billion shares of the company. SPNEC’s IPO shares will be offered at a price of up to Php1.00 apiece while the target offer period is from December 1 to 7, 2021. The final offer price will be determined on November 23, 2021 after the company completes its bookbuilding process,” the PSE noted in a press release.

“I am pleased that PSE can support a renewable energy (RE) company with its fund raising requirements. The need for RE is more amplified now as more companies are turning to RE as part of their climate action program,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon.

This is the first time that a company has been approved to list under the Supplemental Listing and Disclosure Requirements for Renewable Energy (RE) Companies approved by the PSE in 2011. These rules allow development-stage project companies to list, subject to certain requirements including having a valid and subsisting service contract awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE).

“We thank the PSE and SEC for approving this IPO, which aims to give the public a new option to invest in RE and increase the RE capacity of the Philippines,” said Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste.

“We’ve decided to make this our group’s first venture into the public markets because this is the asset that we are proudest to showcase: a site where will rise the largest solar project in Southeast Asia, with potential for expansion given its proximity to Manila, to meet the growing demand for renewable energy in the Philippines,” Leviste added.

Solar Philippines incorporated SPNEC in 2016, and secured a DOE service contract to develop the project in 2017. The company plans to start construction of the project before the end of 2021. Once operational, the project is intended to supplement the Luzon grid’s thin reserves and help prevent the rotating outages that affected millions of Filipinos earlier this year.

The Nueva Ecija project would be the largest among the first 1 GW of projects of Solar Philippines planned to be operating by 2022. The other projects include one in Batangas with an operational 63 MW in partnership with Korea Electric Power Corporation; one in Tarlac, being expanded to up to 200 MW in partnership with Prime Infra of the Razon Group; and another two in Batangas and Cavite with a combined capacity of 140 MW planned to be fully operational by 2022.

SPNEC has engaged Abacus Capital and Investment Corporation as issue manager and lead underwriter and Investment Capital Corporation of the Philippines as participating underwriter for this IPO.