Market summary
The energy and utilities sector made a buzz in December with various announcements and deals. Prime Infrastructure Holdings Inc., said it acquired 50% stake in Solar Philippines Tanauan for c. USD39m. AC Energy Corp made headway for multiple deals including an asset for share swap in its oil and gas exploration unit ACE Enexor, in addition to signing a USD182m share purchase agreement with an affiliate of Singapore-based GIC Private Ltd, while agreeing to subscribe to two subsidiaries for a combined USD273m in separate projects in solar and wind energy development.
Telecommunication and media ended the year with increased activity. Macquarie Capital announced the close of its investment in Phil-Tower Consortium Inc. (PhilTower). On the media side, Paris-headquartered music company Believe has acquired a stake in Philippines-based Viva Music and Artists Group (VMAG), for c. USD26m.
On the real estate side, residential developer Haus Talk, Inc. has set its IPO price at its ceiling of Php1.50 a share. The sector also saw fund flow on the debt side with AREIT, Inc. with a USD58m, 3.0445% bond issue.
Industrials have also seen flows with EEI Corp. raising USD117m from its follow-on offering as the firm exercised its oversubscription option. Ayala Corp. announced that it plans to acquire 20% share in Singapore-based Yoma Strategic Holdings Inc. and 20% stake in First Myanmar Investment Public Co. Ltd., amounting to USD238m. Multiple large firms are also looking to raise from the debt markets with SM Investment Corp. registering for a Php15bn fixed-rate bond offering, while San Miguel Corp. seeks a shelf registration of Php60bn in fixed bonds.
A whale of a transaction to be expected this year with Union Bank of the Philippines inking the deal to buy Citi's local assets for c.USD1,100m. CTS Global Equity Group Inc., plans to raise Php1.375bn through an IPO by February.
Aggregate Deal Value = USD890m
This month’s top deals
Energy
Prime Infrastructure Holdings Inc., a company led by business tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., said Monday it acquired a 50-percent stake in Solar Philippines Tanauan Corp., which is building solar farms in Batangas and Cavite provinces. Prime Infra said in a statement it concluded an agreement with Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. to acquire a 50-percent interest in Solar Philippines Tanauan.
ThomasLloyd Energy Impact Trust PLC (LON:TLEI) has completed the acquisition of a minority stake in three solar power plants in the Philippines with a combined capacity of 80 MW.
Ayala-led AC Energy Corp. is swapping some of its assets for shares in its oil and gas exploration unit ACE Enexor, Inc. in a deed of assignment that the two entities signed earlier this week. In separate disclosures on Friday, the listed companies said that under the property-for-shares swap, ACE Enexor will issue 339,076,058 of its shares to AC Energy at P10 apiece in exchange for the latter’s five assets.
Aboitiz Power Corp. announced on Friday that it would issue P10 billion out of its P30-billion shelf-registered bonds in the first quarter of next year, subject to market conditions. In a stock exchange disclosure, it said the third tranche of its debt program is comprised of fixed-rate retail bonds including oversubscription
AYALA-LED AC Energy Corp. has agreed to subscribe to the shares of two subsidiaries for a combined P14 billion to fund the units’ separate projects in solar and wind energy development. AC Energy disclosed to the stock exchange on Wednesday its subscription to the shares of Santa Cruz Solar Energy, Inc. (SCSEI) for P6,999,631,590 to give it a 99.99% stake in the subsidiary.
AC ENERGY and Infrastructure Corp. (ACEIC) has signed a P9.33-billion share purchase agreement with an affiliate of Singapore-based GIC Private Ltd. for a 17.5% stake in the former’s subsidiary AC Energy Corp. (ACEN). Ayala Corp. said ACEIC will sell 2,689,521,681 secondary ACEN shares to Arran Investment Pte. Ltd. for P3.4678 apiece.
MANGIMA Hydro Power Corp. (MHPC) on Tuesday said it had inked a P2.4-billion loan agreement with Philippine National Bank (PNB) for the construction of a 12-megawatt (MW) run-of-river hydroelectric power project in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.
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Telecommunication & Media
Macquarie Capital, the advisory, capital markets, and principal investment arm of Macquarie Group, announced the financial close of its investment in Phil-Tower Consortium Inc. (PhilTower), one of the fastest-growing independent tower companies in the Philippines. PhilTower is a shared digital infrastructure provider, enabling mobile network operators to rapidly and cost effectively expand their network coverage and meet growing demands for 4G and 5G services.
Paris-headquartered music company Believe has acquired a stake in Philippines-based Viva Music and Artists Group (VMAG), one of the largest labels in South-East Asia. Believe is buying 15% of the company’s total share capital for €23 million (approx. $26m at current exchange rates). The news follows Believe’s acquisition this week of a 76% stake in South India-based Think Music for €13 million (approx. $14.6m at current exchange rates
Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is eyeing to raise P20 billion through the sale of fixed rate bonds through a shelf-registration.The listed fiber broadband provider in a stock exchange filing said its board of directors approved in a special meeting the application for the shelf registration and listing of peso-denominated fixed rate bonds with an aggregate principal amount of P20 billion.
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Real Estate
Upscale property developer Arthaland Corp. has raised P516 million from the sale of a 40-percent stake in two real estate subsidiaries to a unit of international real estate fund and asset manager Arch Capital Management Co. Ltd.
AREIT raises P3B from bond issuance
Haus Talk prices IPO shares at P1.50 apiece
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Industrials & Manufacturing
EEI CORP. raised P6 billion from its follow-on offering as listed construction firm exercised its oversubscription option following strong demand from investors. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said its preferred shares offering saw an oversubscription of 4.85 times its P4-billion base offer. Its sole issue manager, RCBC Capital Corp., said the offer attracted both institutional and retail investors
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Agriculture
Vitarich Corp. has reached an agreement to acquire Barbatos Ventures Corp. (BVC) from Luzon Agriventure Inc. as part of what the listed company called its “vertical integration strategy.” In a stock exchange disclosure on Friday, Vitarich said the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding stock of BVC was for a price of P1.00, with the board of directors of the transacting parties approving the deal.
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Retail & F&B
Shakey's Gobbles Up Potato Corner
Christmas came a couple of days early for two of the country’s biggest food businesses. On Friday (December 24), listed Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (PSE: PIZZA) announced that it is acquiring food kiosk brand Potato Corner in an asset purchase agreement (APA) signed on Thursday (December 23).
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Financial Services
CTS Global Equity Group Inc., one of the country’s largest global equity trading firms, plans to raise as much as P1.375 billion from an initial public offering (IPO) by February next year, targeting investors seeking a diversified position across stock markets in multiple jurisdictions.
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Technology
DFNN, the listed gaming technology firm, is doing a stock rights offering to provide additional capital for its planned expansion. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, DFNN said it is proceeding with its stocks rights offering via an increase in its authorized capital stock to P1 billion. The new capital consists of 900 common shares with a par value of P1 per share; and 100 million preferred shares with a par value of P1 per share.
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Others
AcadArena, a startup that builds student gaming communities across the Philippines, has secured US$3.5 million (PHP176M) in a seed funding round. Over 50 investors from prominent businesses worldwide participated in the seed round. They include 1KX (a community and token fund), Hashed (Korean Blockchain VC firm), Kevin Lin (co-founder of Twitch), Holly Liu (co-founder of Kabam), Patrick Lee (co-founder of Rotten Tomatoes), Kun Gao (co-founder of Crunchyroll), Jeffrey “Jihoz” Zirlin (co-founder of Sky Mavis, which owns Axie Infinity), and Yat Siu (co-founder of Animoca Brands).
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Note: Deal values only include disclosed completed deals with amounts restricted to local scene i.e. amounts related to the Philippine entity and/or business. Rumored, announced, or planned deals not included. Cross-posted deals are also adjusted to avoid double count.
*USD 1.00 = PHP51.33 as of 01/07/2021