ABOITIZ POWER EVALUATING P30B RETAIL BONDS

ABOITIZ POWER Corp. is looking to raise P30 billion (US$624 million) by issuing retail bonds, which it plans to sell in tranches depending on market conditions, the energy company told the stock exchange on Tuesday.

It said its board had approved on Dec. 14 the filing of a registration statement under the shelf registration program of the Securities and Exchange Commission for peso-denominated fixed-rate retail bonds.

AboitizPower also said its board had approved on Monday the issuance of the first tranche of retail bonds worth P4 billion, which is scheduled to be rolled out in the first quarter next year.

The retail bonds have an oversubscription rate of P4 billion, and they will be made available to the public “subject to market conditions” next year. The company intends to list the first tranche with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx).

“Proceeds of the first tranche of the Retail Bonds will be used for refinancing of corporate debts and/or for other general corporate purposes,” AboitizPower said.

The company’s planned debt offering comes after its announcement last month that it had scheduled the two units of a subsidiary’s 1,336-megawatt (MW) supercritical coal-fired power plant in Dinginin, Bataan to start operating commercially around the middle of next year.

AboitizPower said the first unit of GN Power Dinginin Ltd. Co. is set to synchronize with the grid by the end of the year and start operating by the second quarter of 2021.

The second unit will be synchronized and start earning commissioning revenues by the second quarter of next year. It is scheduled to start operating commercially by the third quarter. The two units have an identical capacity.

AboitizPower, which accounted for nearly half of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.’s income as of the third quarter, said its ownership of the plant allows it to surpass its 4,000-MW target “attributable” capacity while serving the country’s base load energy demand.

AboitizPower did not give details on its attributable capacity or its share in the new energy generating project. GNPower Dinginin is a joint venture of AC Energy, Inc., AboitizPower subsidiary Therma Power, Inc. and Power Partners Ltd. Co

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