Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. on Wednesday launched its P2.7-billion initial public offering despite the volatile market conditions.
SPNEC said in a statement it received a permit to sell from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which paved the way for the offer period to run from Dec. 1 to 7, 2021.
The shares will be listed on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on Dec. 17, 2021.
SPNEC said the IPO would allow the company to develop its planned largest solar project in Southeast Asia located in Nueva Ecija.
Using proceeds from the maiden share offering, SPNEC plans to develop the first 50 megawatts of the project and acquire land to expand the project beyond 500 MW.
“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,” Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste said.
“Furthermore, we are thankful for this opportunity to launch the Solar Philippines group’s first public offering, which we see as a favorable signal for future offerings,” Leviste said.
Leviste said in an investors briefing the company decided to list SPNEC because it presents the most exciting story among the group’s solar projects given its scale.
The company plans to start construction of the project before the end of 2021 and complete it by end of 2022.
Once operational, the project would supplement the Luzon grid’s thin reserves and help prevent the rotating outages that affected millions of Filipinos earlier this year.
SPNEC will be the first company to list under the PSE Supplemental Listing and Disclosure Requirements for Renewable Energy Companies approved 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.
SPNEC engaged Abacus Capital and Investment Corp. as issue manager and lead underwriter and Investment Capital Corp. of the Philippines as participating underwriter for the IPO.
