BDO Unibank Inc., the financial services arm of the SM Group, has upsized its second ASEAN Sustainability Bond issue by more than 12 times to raise P63.3 billion, its largest single issuance so far, on the back of strong demand from retail and institutional investors.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the bank said the original P5 billion offering saw a rapid build-up in orders resulting in the shortening of the offer period by a week to Jan. 16, 2024.
This marks the bank’s largest single issuance, surpassing its first ASEAN Sustainability Bonds issue in January 2022 amounting to P52.7 billion.
The peso-denominated Sustainability bonds bear a coupon rate of 6.025 percent and are due in 1.5 years. The issue, settlement, and listing date is on Jan. 29, 2024.
The net proceeds of the issuance are intended to diversify the bank’s funding sources, and finance or refinance eligible assets as defined in the bank’s Sustainable Finance Framework.
Standard Chartered Bank was the issue’s Sole Arranger, while BDO and Standard Chartered Bank were the Selling Agents, and BDO Capital & Investment Corporation was the Financial Advisor.
The P52.7 billion BDO raised in 2022 was more than 10 times the original offer of P5 billion due to very strong demand from retail and institutional investors.
“This was achieved despite the offer period being shortened from January 21, 2022 to January 19, 2022,” BDO said.
It added that, “this is a new milestone for the Bank as it exceeds its previous record of P40.1 billion for a single bond issuance, and by far the largest issuance for any Philippine financial institution or company.”
The bonds have a tenor of two years and a fixed rate of 2.90 percent per annum. Interest is payable quarterly, calculated on a 30/360 basis.