Ayala raises P6.45 billion from treasury shares

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala Corp. has raised P6.45 billion from the sale of treasury shares, gearing up for a $1-billion five-year capital investment program aimed at shoring up its power generation portfolio and expanding its presence in the infrastructure space.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Ayala said it sold 15 million treasury shares at P430 each in an overnight equity deal arranged by Deutsche Bank.

The offer price represented a six percent discount to Ayala’s closing price of P458 Tuesday. Investors, meanwhile, heavily sold down shares of the holding firm yesterday, plummeting to P435 each share.

Ayala president and chief operating officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said the conglomerate is ramping up investments in power and infrastructure, which he described as vital to the country’s growth and future competitiveness.

“The company is in a phase of active investment and is eyeing to build new businesses in power and transport infrastructure. In the same manner Ayala invested in the telecom and water sector in the past, we believe the power and infrastructure sectors are critical for the country’s growth and development. We hope to be able to contribute in some measure to the development of these sectors and at the same time create future sources of earnings and value for the group,” he said.

Ayala aims to build a portfolio of 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power capacity over five years. It earmarked around $100 million on approximately 180 MW of capacity across thermal, wind, hydro and solar technologies.

The group began construction of a 135-MW coal-fired thermal plant in Calaca, Batangas in partnership with the Phinma Group’s Trans Asia Oil and Development Corp. It is also currently working on a possible second phase of expansion of the plant.

Recognizing the country’s need for both base load capacity and alternative energy sources, Ayala is also gradually building its portfolio of renewable energy sources.