Philippine Renewable buying up to 31.7% stake in EDC for P64.5 billion

Philippine Renewable Energy Holdings Corp. intends to acquire a minority stake in Energy Development Corp. (EDC) via a tender offer value at up to P64.525 billion.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, EDC said it received on August 3 a letter from Philippine Renewable, signifying its interest to acquire as much as 31.7 percent in EDC.

"Through this tender offer, the Bidder intends to acquire a minimum of 6.6 billion common shares up to a maximum of 8.9 billion common shares from shareholders of EDC, representing approximately up to 31.7 percent of the company's outstanding voting shares," it said.

Philippine Renewable priced the EDC shares at P7.25 apiece, compared with the 30-day volume weighted average of P5.93 per share.

"The tender offer price equates to a premium of 22.3 percent," EDC said.

EDDC stands to gain as much as P64.525 billion from the tender offer.

"The tender offer will start at 9:00 a.m. on August 10, 2017 and end at 12:00 p.m. on September 18, 2017," EDC said.

According to EDC, shareholders First Gen Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Northern Terracota Power Corp. (NTPC) is taking part in the transaction by offering approximately 2 billion shares.

"The shares of First Gen and NTPC together represent approximately 10.6 percent of EDC's total outstanding common shares," it said.

Philippine Renewable also intends to hold a briefing and a Q&A with other EDC shareholders regarding the tender offer in Makati City on August 10. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News