Renewable

January 29 (Renewables Now) - The energy arm of Philippine group Ayala Corp (PSE:AC) has raised USD 225 million (EUR 196.8m) from its inaugural offering of senior green bonds that will help it expand its renewables business.

AC Energy Inc said last week that the offering was launched by its unit AC Energy Finance Intl Ltd and guaranteed by the parent company. The notes, having a five-year tenor and a coupon of 4.75% per annum, will be listed on the Singaporean stock exchange.

“We are very pleased to see the success of our maiden Green Bond,” said chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala, adding that the placement will help the company to scale up its renewables investments in the region. This, in turn, is seen to facilitate reaching its goal of having 5 GW of renewables capacity by 2025, with renewables accounting for at least 50% of its total power production. Last year, that percentage was 48%.

The green bond deal is a drawdown of the Philippine firm’s USD-1-billion medium term note programme. The bonds have been certified under the Climate Bonds Standard (CBS) from the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) and will be the first publicly syndicated CBI-certified dollar-denominated green bond in Southeast Asia.

HSBC (LON:HSBA) was the sole global coordinator of the transaction, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch served as the sole green structuring agent.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.875)