Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation Successfully Lists on the Philippine Stock Exchange

Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC) has successfully completed its initial public offering (IPO) and listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), receiving a warm reception from both local and international investors.

CREC completed its offering of 1,785,715,000 common shares, with a 10% overallotment option of up to 178,572,000 secondary common shares, at a price of P2.70 per share. This brings the total CREC shares listed on the PSE on June 7, 2024 to 8,928,572,143 common shares with the offering representing 22% of CREC’s total outstanding shares, and with a market capitalization of P24,107,144,786.10 at the time of listing.

The firm shares, or 70% of the offer shares, were allotted to local and international institutional investors, while the remaining 30% were offered to eligible trading participants on the PSE and to local small (retail) investors.

“We are delighted with the outcome of CREC’s initial public offering - a testament to strong investor confidence in our vision, plans and projects,” said Chairman Edgar Saavedra. “Based on our experience, the IPO plays a significant role in shaping companies and our collaboration with the PSE and SEC now extends to three companies – Megawide, CREIT, and CREC. The success of our latest listing motivates us to exceed expectations in fulfilling our commitment to regulators and investors,” he added.

The offer attracted reputable domestic and international institutional investors, demonstrating CREC’s upward potential in the Philippine renewable energy space. PSE trading participants and retail investors also fully participated in the offer, which ran from May 27 to 31, 2024.

The strong international support received by CREC includes an investment from the UK Government’s MOBILIST programme, an initiative by the British Investment Partnership to deliver assistance to support infrastructure development and green transmission in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. MOBILIST has partnered with the PSE to ensure greater investment in sustainable development in the Philippines through products listed on the PSE. CREC is MOBILIST’s maiden IPO investment in the country focused on renewable energy transition.

CREC President and CEO Mr. Oliver Tan underscored the importance of the company’s capital raising to support its renewable energy targets of achieving 5,000MW renewable energy capacity by the year 2028, “With the investments made during the IPO, we have gained even more confidence in our ability to develop and expand our green energy portfolio. These investments are integral to the country’s transition to a cleaner form of power and our hope is to contribute to a more sustainable and affordable energy solution for all,” he said.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson and CEO Emilio Aquino, who was present during the listing ceremony, also expressed his support to CREC, “The Commission is very hopeful that today's listing of Citicore's common shares will further propel the development of renewable energy projects. We hope that it remains steadfast in its dedication to innovation and sustainability. Together, we have the power to secure our future with renewable energy resources taking environmental stewardship into account while driving economic growth.”

The IPO is one of CREC’s biggest capital raising activities following its landmark mezzanine loan facility with Pentagreen Capital in 2023, as well as the financing arrangement with RCBC and the sale of certain CREIT shares to SM Investments Corporation, both held earlier this year, all of which are all geared towards the development of CREC’s pipeline of projects. CREC’s goal is to contribute approximately 1.0 gigawatt (GW) of ready-to-build/under construction solar energy capacity in the Philippine energy mix per year in the next five years, equivalent to approximately 5.0 GW by 2028.