Introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2025, the designation allows companies with predominantly “green” businesses to distinguish themselves and potentially attract investors focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG).
The data center operator has engaged S&P Global Ratings to conduct an independent Climate Transition Assessment as part of its application, which remains pending, its deal prospectus showed.
“ESG investing is growing so at the very least the green equity label expands their pool of potential investors significantly,” Nicky Franco, research head at Abacus Securities, told InsiderPH.
Maynilad precedent
Maynilad, one of the region’s largest water concessionaires, was the first new listing to receive the green label.
It later lured 12 cornerstone investors, including the International Finance Corp., the Asian Development Bank and Robeco Switzerland, alongside several of the Philippines’ largest trust institutions.
Renewable energy push
VITRO REIT plans to increase renewable energy’s share of electricity consumption from 45 percent in 2025 to 55 percent this year and 60 percent by 2028, the deal prospectus showed.
It expects additional renewable power to come from the MTerra Solar project through affiliate Manila Electric Co. as electricity demand from cloud computing and artificial intelligence continues to grow.
VITRO REIT, the country’s first data center IPO, is targeting an October listing that could raise as much as P24.2 billion.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
