Citicore Energy REIT Corp. (CREIT or the Company) rang the bell today at the floor of the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) in Makati City, during the listing ceremony of its maiden Php 4.5 billion ASEAN Green Bond offering.
The offer was oversubscribed, with the Php1.5-billion oversubscription option fully taken up during the offer period, which ran from January 30 to February 3, 2023. The ASEAN Green Bonds will bear a coupon rate of 7.0543% and mature on February 10, 2028.
“This listing marks our second capital raising activity in just twelve months, following our Initial Public Offering (IPO) almost a year ago. We are very grateful for the investment community’s continued favorable reception and the support of our joint lead underwriters, regulators, and participants. Without all of you, this exercise would have not been a successful offering, especially amid a looming global recession,” said Oliver Y. Tan, CREIT President and CEO.
SB Capital Investment Corporation and PNB Capital and Investment Corporation were the transaction’s joint local underwriters, issue managers, bookrunners, and selling agents, with Security Bank Corporation – Trust and Asset Management Group acting as the Trustee.
For his part, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Emilio B. Aquino said in a recorded message aired during the ceremony, “CREIT once again sets another first this time, as the first REIT company to issue ASEAN Green Bonds. In addition to its REIT shares listed in the PSE, the issuance of such bonds has also contributed to the diversification of the investment products available to the capital market.”
Earlier, the Issuer and the Issue received a rating of PRS Aa+ with Stable Outlook from the Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings), signifying its strong capacity to meet its financial obligation.
The proceeds of the offering will be used to acquire value-accretive properties to grow CREIT’s green asset portfolio, which are expected to increase CREIT’s landholdings to almost 4 times, from the current 2 million square meters to 7 million square meters – cementing its status as the country’s largest renewable energy (RE) landlord.
The land parcels will then be leased out to solar power generators and operators, who will construct three utility-scale solar plants with a total projected generation capacity of 269MWdc and form part of the expansion pipeline of CREIT’s Sponsor, Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC).
The regulators are also very supportive of these initiatives, citing Citicore’s growth agenda vis-à-vis the country’s race for cleaner and renewable energy. “This will ultimately redound to the country’s National Renewable Energy Program, which aims for renewables to comprise 35% of power generation by 2030, and 50% by 2040,” SEC’s Aquino added.
