Aboitiz to Raise $1.46 Billion From Power Stake Sale to JERA

Ditas Lopez, Bloomberg News

Electrical power lines hang from a transmission pylon in Pretoria, South Africa, on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. South Africa's cash-strapped power utility, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., is "a threat" to the nation's investment strategy, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. will sell a fourth of its power subsidiary to Japan utility company JERA Co. Inc for $1.46 billion.

The Philippine conglomerate will sell 25.01% of Aboitiz Power Corp., while a privately held company of the Aboitiz family will sell 1.99%, giving JERA a 27% stake in the Philippines’ largest generator.

“This transaction unlocks significant capital that will be used toward fueling the AEV Group’s growth initiatives,” Aboitiz Equity said in a statement. Potential areas of collaboration include LNG-to-power projects and new technologies, it said.

Aboitiz Power in August said it expects to spend about 190 billion pesos in the next 10 years to build an additional 3,700 megawatts of capacity under its clean energy portfolio.

Shares of the power company rose 4.8%, while Aboitiz Equity gained 2.1%, outperforming the Philippine benchmark index’s 0.1% advance.