AC ENERGY Corp. (ACEN) on Monday said its subsidiary had signed a share purchase agreement to buy the 52% interest held by its partner in a joint venture holding firm for energy and power projects and investments in Australia.
The agreement was forged on March 11 by ACEN unit AC Renewables International Pte. Ltd. to acquire the interest of UPC Renewables Asia-Pacific Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Anton Rohner in UPC-AC Renewables Australia.
In a disclosure to the exchange, ACEN said the first tranche of the acquisition will be done by end-March this year, while the second tranche will be completed by the first quarter of 2023.
It was earlier reported that the acquisition will cost ACEN $243.3 million.
Mr. Rohner, the chief executive officer of UPC-AC Renewables, and UPC Renewables will also subscribe to up to 942 million ACEN shares for P11.32 apiece.
In December last year, ACEN said the acquisition would allow the company to have full ownership and control of the joint venture company, which is constructing a 520-megawatts (MW) solar farm in New England, Australia and has a development pipeline of more than 8,000 MW spanning New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia.
Ayala-led ACEN earlier reported a consolidated attributable net income of P5.25 billion in 2021, higher by 22% than the P4.29 billion recorded a year earlier on the back of higher power demand. Revenues last year increased by 27% to P26.08 billion due to improved generation output.
ACEN said its attributable output last year grew 21% to 4,633 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 3,818 GWh in 2020 on the back of a 23% climb in generation from renewable sources. International output rose 24%, while generation from Philippine assets jumped 20%.
The renewable energy (RE) company is targeting to become the biggest listed energy platform in Southeast Asia as it eyes to put up 5,000 MW of RE capacity by 2025.
At home, the company is building around 484 MW of wind and solar capacity. Across the region, it has around 3,800 MW of attributable net capacity, of which, RE capacity accounted for a share of 87% or 3,300 MW.
ACEN has increased its allocated budget for capital expenditure (capex) investments by 68% to P55.5 billion this year to develop new capacity in the county amid the power supply issues. A portion of the capex will be allotted to the construction of a 521-MW New England solar farm in Australia and the 420-MW Masaya solar farm in India.
Shares in ACEN at the local bourse slipped 40 centavos or 4.83% to close at P7.88 apiece on Monday. — Marielle C. Lucenio