Vista Land set to launch P5B bond offer

Shown in Photo: (L-R) VLL Independent Directors Ruben O. Fruto and Marilou O. Adea; VLL Director, CFO and Controller Cynthia J. Javarez; VLL Director and Managing Director for Vista Land Commercial Division Camille A. Villar; Honorable Senator Cynthia A. Villar; VLL President and CEO Manuel Paolo A. Villar; VLL Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr.; PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo; PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon; PSE Director Vivian Yuchengco; PSE COO Roel A. Refran and PSE Director Alejandro T. Yu.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a plan by Villar group-led Vista Land & Lifescapes to raise as much as P20 billion from the domestic bond market to fund expansion program in the next three years.

The initial tranche of the bond offering is sized at a maximum of P5 billion, consisting of P3 billion in base offer and P2 billion in overallotment, based on a document from the SEC.

The offering of up to P5 billion bonds will be in tenors of seven and 10 years.

For the seven-year tenor, interest rate is expected to be based on a spread of 125 to 160 basis points over the comparable local benchmark bond while for the 10-year tenor, the projected spread is between 140 and 175 basis points.

VLL has the option to redeem the bonds – in whole but not in part – before maturity date.

The bonds are intended to be listed on local fixed income trading platform Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.

The SEC’s shelf registration mechanism allows issuers to register and sell under the same prospectus and other regulatory filing requirements a certain volume of securities that the company does not intend to use up right away. In the event that the oversubscription option is not fully exercised, the unused portion will be made part of the remaining bonds in the shelf to be used within a three-year period.