ACEN to hike stakes in Ilocos wind project joint ventures

ACEN Corp. on Tuesday said that it was increasing its stake in two joint ventures involved in a wind power project in Ilocos Norte.

In separate disclosures, the company said it had signed subscription contracts with Philippine Wind Holdings Corp. (PhilWind) and North Luzon

Renewable Energy Corp. (NLR) to raise fresh funds.

Under the first deal, ACEN will make an additional subscription to 50,446 redeemable preferred shares A-3 (RPS A-3) of PhilWind, to come from the latter’s planned authorized capital stock increase.

The preferred shares have a par value of P10,000 each for a total subscription price of P504.46 million.

ACEN will initially pay P309.56 million for the deal with PhilWind, which will be subject to regulatory approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically in regard to PhilWind’s capital stock increase.

ACEN will also make an additional subscription to 49,540 redeemable preferred shares of NLR at a par value of P10,000 each, for a total subscription price of P495.40 million.

As with PhilWind, these preferred shares will also come from a planned increase of NLR’s authorized capital stock.

ACEN said it would make an initial payment of P304 million for the second deal, which will also be subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.

NLR and PhilWind are both joint venture holding companies between ACEN and Diamond Generating Asia Ltd., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp.

PhilWind is a majority shareholder of NLR, which wholly owns Amihan Renewables Energy Corp. that in turn owns a 70-megawatt wind farm in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.

ACEN shares closed up five centavos to P3.85 on Tuesday.