Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power has received shareholders’ go-ahead for its SAR 7.1 billion (US$1.9 billion) rights issue.
With SAR 5.28 billion (US$1.41 billion) to SAR 5.98 billion (US$1.59 billion) earmarked for financing current and future projects and up to SAR 1.41 billion (US$380 million) for mergers and acquisitions, this marks a key step in aggressively funding its expansion in renewable and clean energy projects.
The company will offer approximately 33.93 million shares at SAR 210 (US$56) a piece.
On Wednesday, ACWA’s shares were trading at SAR 240, down 3.23 per cent.
According to Bloomberg, ACWA has been one of the worst performers on Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange in 2025, with shares down 40.6 per cent so far this year. It’s high this year was on January 20, when it touched SAR 435.2.
The company sees the rights issue as critical to its plan to boost annual project spending to as much as $2.5 billion as it seeks to triple assets under management by 2030. It’s working to expand into countries like China, Malaysia and Turkey, and is also building new capacity at home as part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to neutralise carbon emissions by pushing into solar, wind and green hydrogen.
In February this year, ACWA Power bought power and water assets in Kuwait and Bahrain from France’s Engie SA for US$693 million. It acquired stakes in three plants totalling more than 3 gigawatts of power capacity and 138 million gallons a day of desalination in Bahrain, as well as Engie’s share of the 1.5-gigawatt Az Zour North project in Kuwait.
For the first quarter of 2025, ACWA Power said its operating income before impairment losses and other expenses increased by 117 per cent to reach SAR 870 million (US$232 million), driven by higher development business and construction management services income. Net profit reached SAR 427 million (US$113.9 million) for the period, 44 per cent higher QoQ.
