SMGP readies fresh $100M fundraise for solar projects
San Miguel Global Power Corp. (SMGP), the energy arm of tycoon Ramon Ang’s group, may tap the offshore bond market anew as it seeks to raise an additional $100 million to finance its solar power developments.
In a filing at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), SMGP said its board of directors gave the green light to pursue another issuance of perpetual securities.
The additional securities worth at least $100 million would be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.
Predevelopment costs
The final amount, the company said, would depend on “prevailing market conditions and as may be advantageous to the corporation.”
The energy firm has yet to bare the listing date.
Proceeds from this batch of planned financing activity would go to the predevelopment costs of solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage projects.
SMGP tapped Standard Chartered Bank as sole lead manager, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited as trustee and Deutsche Bank’s Hong Kong Branch as paying agent, calculation agent, transfer agent and registrar. Latham & Watkins is tapped as listing agent.
This came just less than a month after SMPG’s board approved the issuance of $300 million worth of perpetual securities in Singapore.
The firm also issued $492.11 million worth of debt paper in November 2019, and another $723.90 million in senior perpetual capital securities last October 2020.
SMGP is one of the energy giants in the Philippine market with 5,207 megawatts of capacity as of the first semester this year.
Portfolio
The company’s portfolio includes power generation facilities that run on natural gas, coal and renewable energy such as hydroelectric power and battery energy storage systems.
Also, SMGP recently teamed up with two other titans in the power sector—Meralco PowerGen Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp.—for a $3.3-billion deal aimed at launching the “most expansive” liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Batangas.
The three companies expect to receive approval from the Philippine Competition Commission within the third quarter for this LNG project.
