Ayala Corp. gets SEC nod to offer P10B in shares

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. has obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise as much as P10 billion from a domestic offering of preferred shares in November.

Ayala seeks to issue 20 million in class “B” preferred shares at a maximum price of up to P500 apiece, according to a document from the SEC.

The offering period will run from Nov. 4 to 8, and the preferred shares will then be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to partially refinance the conglomerate’s US dollar-denominated debt totaling P10.25 billion due in the last quarter of 2013.

Funding for the balance of these obligations will be sourced from internally generated funds and/or other credit facilities.

The conglomerate has mandated BPI Capital Corp. as issue manager, underwriter and receiving agent. Other lead underwriters are BDO Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., ING Bank, RCBC Capital Corp., HSBC, SB Capital Investment Corp. and Standard Chartered Bank.

Dividend rate on the preferred shares will be based on the 10-year local interest benchmark PDST-R2 plus a spread of 1.25 to 2 percent. This translates to an interest rate range of 4.75 to 5.5 percent per annum based on the current 10-year PDST-R2 rate of 3.5 percent.

Ayala Corp. has the option to redeem the preferred shares on the 10th year and 15th year.

The dividend rate will be adjusted upwards on the 10th year and 15th year if not redeemed.