By James A. Loyola
BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO), the country’s top lender, has successfully raised P35 billion from a planned issuance of fixed rate bonds, following a quick book-building process.
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(mb.com.ph)
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bank said the bonds have a tenor of 1.5 years and bear a coupon rate of 6.42 percent, representing a 25 bps spread over the Bloomberg Valuation Service or BVAL benchmark.
Interest will be paid quarterly, calculated on a 30/360 count basis. The bonds will be issued on February 11, 2019.
The bond issuance is part of BDO’s efforts to diversify its funding sources and support its business expansion, and is a component of an approved P100 billion Bond Program announced in August last year.
“This marks another significant milestone for BDO as the transaction represents the largest ever single peso bond issuance by a Philippine bank,” BDO said.
This follows the bank’s $150 million Green Bond in 2018, its $1.2 billion stock rights offering in 2017, and its $700 million Senior Note issuance, also in 2017, which is considered to be the largest Reg S dollar issuance by a Philippine bank to date.
Standard Chartered Bank acted as the Sole Arranger and Bookrunner for the issue, while BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, BDO Private Bank, Inc., and BDO Unibank, Inc. served as the selling agents.