ACEN acquires 49% stake in Bangladesh solar project

ACEN Corp.’s joint venture, IBV ACEN Renewables Asia Pte. Ltd., has finalized the acquisition of a 49% stake in a 70-megawatt solar project in Bangladesh, the Ayala-led company announced on Thursday.

IBV ACEN has met all conditions under the sale and purchase agreements with Bangladesh holding firm Sonagazi Sun Holdings Pte. Ltd., ACEN said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

While the company has not provided specific financial details, it said that the acquisition price is “less than 10% of the book value of ACEN as of 30 September 2024.”

IBV ACEN Renewables Asia is a joint venture between ACEN Renewables International Pte. Ltd., a unit of ACEN, and ib vogt (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Ib vogt Singapore is an affiliate of ib vogt GmbH, a German company that specializes in developing and delivering large-scale turn-key photovoltaic plants.

The company has built or has projects under construction worth 4.3 gigawatts (GW), with a project pipeline of 55 GW.

In its previous disclosure, ACEN said that ACEN Renewables International was planning to invest as much as $18 million (approximately P1.04 billion) for the construction of the solar project.

The investment aligns with ACEN’s expected contribution of as much as $200 million in equity investment to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in Asia.

The joint venture will focus on shovel-ready projects in Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with a minimum target operational capacity of 1,000 MW.

ACEN, the listed energy platform of Ayala Corp., boasts a portfolio of about 6.8 GW of attributable renewable capacity in operation, under construction, and committed projects.

“ACEN’s renewable capacity has grown to almost 7 GW, in line with the strong momentum behind the energy transition in the region. The company continues to focus on execution, especially for projects in construction and under development,” ACEN President Eric T. Francia said.

For the nine months ending in September, the energy company’s attributable net income increased by 23.9% to P8.14 billion from P6.57 billion a year ago.

Gross revenues went down by 2.4% to P27.96 billion from P28.65 billion last year.

On Thursday, shares in the company declined by 5.96% to close at P3.47 each. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera