SMGP to raise $100 million from bond issuance

MANILA, Philippines — The power arm of tycoon Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Corp. is planning to raise at least $100 million via bond issuance to beef up its renewable energy portfolio.

In a regulatory filing yesterday, San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP) said its board approved the offer and issuance of additional US dollar-denominated senior perpetual capital securities.

The proceeds will be used to bankroll the pre-development costs of its solar energy projects and the capital expenditure requirements related to battery energy storage systems.

SMGP said the final amount is still subject to “prevailing market conditions and as may be advantageous to the corporation.”

The additional securities, which will be constituted by a supplemental trust deed, are set to be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.

For this fundraising activity, the company has tapped Standard Chartered Bank as the sole lead manager, with DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Ltd. as trustee, Latham & Watkins as the listing agent, and Deutsche Bank AG-Hong Kong Branch as the register and paying, calculation and transfer agent.

Last month, SMGP returned to the offshore bond market and raised $300 million to finance solar power developments.

The energy firm explained that the net proceeds of the capital-raising initiative would not fund any of its existing and planned coal-fired power assets.

SMGP also raised $1.22 billion from the issuances of senior perpetual capital securities in November 2019 and October 2020.

The company’s fundraising activities to beef up its portfolio complement well with its bold ambition to be a key player in Southeast Asia and become the largest power firm in the country in terms of generation capacity.

SMGP, together with its subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, had a combined capacity of 5,207 megawatts as of end-June.