Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV), the investment arm of the Aboitiz Group, is planning to raise up to P17.45 billion from the issuance of fixed-rate retail bonds, inclusive of oversubscription.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said it has filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue the 2023 Bonds as the second tranche of its P30.0 billion shelf registered debt securities program approved by the regulator in November last year.
“Subject to market conditions, the 2023 Bonds are expected to be offered to the general public during the third quarter of 2023. AEV intends to list the 2023 Bonds with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.,” AEV said.
Under its shelf registration, AEV may offer the bonds under its P30 billion debt securities program in tranches within three years.
For the first tranche, AEV last year offered bond worth P550 million, which were issued alongside up to P7.45 billion of fixed-rate bonds comprising the fourth and final tranche of its debt securities program approved in 2019.
The company likewise offered up to P12 billion of bonds from the 2022 program as part of the oversubscription option for a total size of up to P20 billion.
AEV used the proceeds to partially finance the acquisition of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation by its wholly owned subsidiary Aboitiz InfraCapital. A portion of the proceeds was also go to the refinancing of maturing debt.
The bonds comprising the first tranche of the 2022 program and the final tranche of the 2019 program were also offered at face value and listed on the PDEx.
Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings) had assigned its highest Issue Credit Rating of PRS Aaa, with a Stable Outlook, to AEV’s P20 billion bond issue last year.