The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) can be listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) via any mode as long as it goes public by November.
In a disclosure to the PSE on Thursday, Synergy Grid & Development Philippines, which owns NGCP, said the ERC granted its motion for clarification on whether the grid firm can comply with its public offering requirement under the alternative mode of compliance.
“NGCP can undertake public listing or in substitution submit proof of the listing of any company in the (exchange) which owns or controls at least [30%] of its outstanding capital stock, as these manners of compliance are expressly provided under RA 9511,” says Synergy Grid’s disclosure, quoting the ERC order.
“In the dispositive portion of the Order, the ERC thus stated, among other things, that ‘[NGCP’s] compliance with dispersal of ownership requirement will be determined based on Section 8 of [RA] 9511,” the disclosure read further.
The power regulator also said its order “should not be taken as allowing or prohibiting any mode of ownership dispersal allowed under the law to be undertaken by NGCP as this was not made an issue in the entire proceedings.”
The ERC also emphasized that NGCP should be listed in the PSE by November 14, the deadline of its six-month extension promulgated in May. The same decision had ordered the grid firm specifically to be listed via an IPO. NGCP’s franchise law states that the grid firm was supposed to go public ten years after it commenced operations. NGCP began operating in 2009.
Business news wires agency Bloomberg reported in January that NGCP was to undergo an initial public offering (IPO), in which it planned to raise $1.5 billion. Back in May, Synergy Grid bought NGCP via a share-swap deal. Synergy Grid, already a listed firm in the PSE, also said it would conduct a follow-on offer, wherein it would raise Php28.9 billion.
