ACEN takes over SSPC

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. has acquired shares from two companies in line with its takeover of a special purpose vehicle that will develop a 60-megawatt peak (MWp) solar power plant in San Manuel, Pangasinan.

ACEN, in a stock exchange filing, said it signed a deed of absolute sale of shares with Sungrow Power Renewables Corp. (SPRC) for the acquisition of 4,400 Class A common shares in Sinocalan Solar Power Corp. (SSPC).

The company also inked a deed of absolute sale of shares with Havilah AAA Holdings Corp. for the acquisition of 600 Class B common shares in SSPC, as well as a deed of assignment of subscription rights to 6,000 Class B common shares in SSPC.

Further, a subscription agreement was also entered into with SSPC for the subscription by ACEN to 600,000 Redeemable Preferred Shares B (RPS B), to be issued out of the increase in authorized capital stock of SSPC.

ACEN said the share purchase price for the 4,400 Class A common shares and 6,600 Class B common shares inclusive of assignment of subscription rights amounted to P164.2 million, while the subscription price for the RPS B shares was P198,000.

“The acquisition will allow ACEN to have a significant ownership in SSPC and is meant to implement the development of the 60-MWp solar power plant in San Manuel, Pangasinan,” the company said.

SSPC is a special purpose vehicle for the development and operation of the proposed solar power plant.

In line with the share purchase agreement last Nov. 29, ACEN will purchase SPRC’s subscription rights to 400,000 RPS A shares out of the increase in the authorized capital stock of SSPC upon the completion of certain conditions precedent.

Upon the acquisition of the 400,000 RPS A shares, ACEN will have 100 percent ownership of SSPC.

ACEN, the Ayala group’s listed energy platform, seeks to grow its renewables capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

It is committed to 100 percent renewables generation by 2025.

Last month, ACEN announced that it has fully divested from its remaining coal plant under South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) through the world’s first energy transition mechanism or ETM.

The ETM would ultimately result in the early retirement of the SLTEC coal plant by 2040, or 15 years ahead of the end of its technical life.

ACEN currently has about 4,000 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia, with a renewable share of 87 percent, which is among the highest in the region.