FGen Raising P10B For Expansion

Manila Bulletin
By MYRNA M. VELASCO
January 28, 2012, 3:53am


MANILA, Philippines — The expected proceeds of up to P10 billion from the series “G” preferred shares issuance of Lopez-owned First Gen will bankroll proposed future growth projects in the power sector.


The cash infusion will similarly address the company’s scheduled refinancing plan that will continuously underpin its “recapitalization efforts.”


The Lopez firm’s stockholders in a special meeting on Wednesday approved “the creation of 135 million series ‘G’ preferred shares with a par value of P10 per share.” The lower end of the expected proceeds from the shares issue had been placed at P5 billion.


The company emphasized via its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) though that “the issue value and dividend rate (are) to be determined by the board of directors at the time of issuance.”


In the same meeting, the stockholders also gave go-signal for the company’s bid to increase its authorized capital stock to P8.6 billion.


First Gen and its subsidiaries, primarily the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), have been continuously trailing investment growth paths, including forays overseas.


EDC, in particular, has gained initial milestones on its proposed offshore venture after securing concession for development of geothermal projects in Chile – which is just one leg of its planned investments in Latin America.


The Lopez companies are also aggressive on setting their sights on renewable energy (RE) projects, primarily wind and hydropower facilities.


Like all of the project sponsors though, the firm is also waiting for the final decision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on the feed-in-tariff (FiT) charges to be levied across RE technologies.