8990 Holdings completes P9B bond debut

LEADING mass housing developer 8990 Holdings has completed a P9 billion fund-raising via a retail bond debut.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, 8990 Holdings announced the final breakdown of the recently-concluded fixed rate bond offering, revealing that the sweet spot for investors was the five-year and three-month tenor (series A bonds due 2020). This tenor raised P8.4 billion at an interest rate of 6.208 percent per annum.

Series-B bonds, which will mature in seven years or by 2022, raised P375.5 million. These bonds were priced to yield 6.131 percent a year.

Series-C bonds, with a 10-year tenor, raised P218.91 million. They were priced to yield 6.8666 percent a year.

The company noted that the oversubscription option of P4 billion had been fully exercised. The base offer amounted to P5 billion.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to refinance existing debt of the issuer and its subsidiaries. A fixed-rate borrowing over a long period is also seen eliminating the risk of interest rate fluctuations.

8990 Holdings, which trades on the Philippine Stock Exchange under the ticker “HOUSE,” is set to list the bonds on the fixed-income trading platform Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on Thursday (July 16).

The bonds are in scripless form and issued in minimum denominations of P50,000 each and additional investment in multiples of P10,000. They can be traded in denominations of P10 million in the secondary market.

The joint issue managers are BDO Capital and Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and SB Capital Investment Corp. The joint lead underwriters are BDO Capital, FMIC, SB Capital and China Banking Corp.

8990 Holdings is valued by the stock market at around P40.2 billion.