Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has raised a total of P33.7 billion from the initial P5 billion offering of peso-denominated fixed-rate BPI Sustainable, Environmental, and Equitable Development (SEED) Bonds due 2026.
The bank issued the SEED bonds and listed these at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corporation (PDEx) on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. These comprise the third tranche of the BPI’s P100 billion Bond Program, approved by its Board of Directors on May 18, 2022.
“The BPI SEED Bonds mark the Bank’s largest thematic bond issuance to date,” said BPI in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
It added that “in the wake of robust demand for the BPI Seed Bonds across institutional, high net worth, and retail clients, the final issue size thereof was increased by 6.7 times the initial issue size of P5.0 billion. This landmark offering is also BPI’s first foray in the sustainable bond format.”
BPI will use the net proceeds of the offer to finance or refinance new or existing Eligible Green or Social Projects as defined under, and consistent with, BPI’s Sustainable Funding Framework.
“BPI is committed to integrating sustainability in how we do business. The net proceeds from BPI SEED Bonds will enable us to foster sustainable development that will contribute to building a better, more resilient Philippines,” said BPI Treasurer Dino Gasmen.
The BPI SEED Bonds, now tradable on the PDEx, have a term of 1.5 years and bear an interest rate of 6.20 percent per annum, payable quarterly.
BPI Capital Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank served as the Joint Lead Arrangers and Selling Agents of the Offer.
The bank announced last July 31 that it had decided to shorten the public offering period of its sustainable bonds due to overwhelming demand.
It said strong demand came from institutional, high-net worth and retail clients for its 1.5-year SEED bonds.