KUALA LUMPUR (June 8): Pimpinan Ehsan Bhd on Wednesday (June 8) announced it has entered into a second supplemental and restated share sale agreement with B.Grimm Power (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, reNIKOLA Sdn Bhd, Boumhidi Adel and YAM Tengku Zaiton Ibni Sultan Abu Bakar — collectively known as the vendors, in relation to the proposed acquisition of reNIKOLA Holdings Sdn Bhd and its subsidiaries.

PEB is a cash company under the Main Market Listing Requirements and it aims to be a pure play renewable energy (RE) company.

PEB had on May 24 last year announced the proposed acquisition of a 100% stake in reNIKOLA Holdings for RM373 million.

reNIKOLA Holdings owns solar power assets in Arau, Perlis; Gebeng, Pahang; Pekan, Pahang; and will develop a large-scale solar plant in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah, pending issuance of licence, all totaling 418 MWp on completion.

PEB agrees to acquire two additional solar power assets located in Kuala Muda, Kedah and Machang, Kelantan respectively, along with the parcels of land where the assets sit on.

The Kuala Muda solar power plant has a capacity of 45 MWp and achieved commercial operation on March 22 this year. The Machang solar power plant has a similar capacity of 45 MWp with expected commercial operation by the third quarter of 2022.

In view of the latest development, PEB said its acquisition plan will be divided into two segments.

For its regularisation plan, the group will acquire four solar power plants in Arau, Perlis; Gebeng and Pekan, Pahang; as well as Kuala Muda, Kedah, with an aggregate capacity of 133 MWp. The purchase consideration of RM325.5 million will be satisfied via the issuance of 152.6 million new PEB shares to reNIKOLA, as well as 124.8 million new PEB shares to B.Grimm.

PEB will also acquire a 51% interest in the BKH solar plant, which is currently under planning phase with a proposed capacity of 330 MWp, and Machang solar power plant of 45 MWp plus the land it sits on, for RM231.9 million to be satisfied via issuance of 214.5 million PEB shares.

In addition, B.Grimm will inject RM214.5 million cash into reNIKOLA Holdings and in return, receive 166.7 million PEB shares.

“For our proposed regularisation plan alone, we will have four solar plants with a combined 133 MWp capacity. These will be operational assets with power purchase agreements in place,” said PEB chairman Jonathan Law Ngee Song in a statement.

B.Grimm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of B.Grimm Power Public Company Ltd, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand with a market capitalisation of THB86 billion (RM11.1 billion).

B.Grimm Power Public Company has 737 MWp of renewable power plants in operations, consisting of solar projects in Thailand and Vietnam, wind projects and waste-to-energy projects in Thailand and hydropower projects in Laos.

As part of the proposed regularisation plan, there will also be a proposed share split involving subdivision of one PEB share into two shares; as well as proposed private placements to raise up to RM289.7 million to fund expansion in the RE industry.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, PEB said the proposed regularisation plan is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, while the remaining proposals are estimated to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.

Its share price finished unchanged at RM1.45 on Wednesday, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM100.23 million.