Villar unit issues bonds

A unit of housing developer Vista Land & Lifescapes has  completed the issuance of $225 million worth of five-year bonds.

This bond issuance by VLL International Inc. was in conjunction with an “any-and-all” cash tender offer targeting outstanding $150 million 8.25 percent bonds due 2015.

Holders of $103.76 million or about 69 percent of these outstanding bonds tendered their bonds in response to Vista Land’s invitation.

In a regulatory filing, Vista Land said positive results from the tender offer had helped drive momentum for the new issue, which garnered a final order book of about $350 million from 44 accounts.

This enabled Vista Land to price the new five-year issuance at a yield of 7.625 percent, representing a 12.5-basis points tightening from initial guidance of 7.75 percent.

The bonds will bear a fixed interest coupon of 7.45 percent a year, with interest payable semi-annually.

In terms of geographic distribution, about 95 percent of the bonds were distributed in Asia while the rest was sold in Europe.

“Vista Land’s new five-year issue represents the first US dollar-denominated bond offering from a Philippine corporate in 2014 and saw participation from offshore and institutional investors,” the company said.

By investor type, 60 percent of the bonds were taken up by banks, 28 percent by fund and asset managers and 12 percent by private banks. Doris C. Dumlao