SPNEC bares plan to raise public float

SOLAR power provider SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) on Thursday disclosed a minimum public ownership (MPO) compliance plan as part of efforts to lift a trading suspension.

In a disclosure, SPNEC said that its parent, Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. (SPPPHI), had donated a total of 2.13 billion additional unlisted and fully paid common SPNEC shares to Asia Pacific Institute for Green Development Inc. (Green Development).It said that SPPPHI on Wednesday executed a deed of donation for 1.58 billion unlisted and fully paid common shares to Green Development, “which will represent 4.60 percent of the issued and outstanding capital stock of the SPNEC.”Last month, SPPPHI also executed a deed of donation for 550 million unlisted and fully paid common shares of SPNEC to Green Development.”The shares donated by SPPPHI to Green Development in total represent 6.20 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of SPNEC, and SPNEC would thereby comply with the MPO requirement,” the disclosure read.SPNEC also bared plans to increase its public float further once its trading suspension is lifted.These include a follow-on offering, which SPNEC said would be taken up in the company’s next stockholders’ meeting on December 4.SPNEC said it and its parent SPPPHI “are also in discussions for private placement transactions with institutional investors who have shown interest in acquiring shares in the company provided that its shares resume trading.”The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading in SPNEC shares in June after the firm’s public float fell to 13.82 percent following an increase in authorized capital stock. The company’s shares last traded at P1.46 apiece.