Filinvest Land’s P8B new bond offer ok’d

THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission has approved a plan by Gotianun-led property developer Filinvest Land Inc. to raise as much as P8 billion from a new retail bond offering.

Based on a regulatory filing, FLI was given authority to sell a minimum of P5 billion unsecured fixed rate bonds with an option to upsize by another P3 billion.

The bonds are proposed to be issued in seven- and 10-year tenors, proceeds from which will be used to fund capital expenditures from the third quarter of this year through 2016.

FLI has P20.2 billion worth of capital outlays scheduled from the third quarter of this year through the last quarter of 2016, broken down as follows: residential development (P4.51 billion); retail development (P6.79 billion); commercial property/office projects of subsidiary Cyberzone Properties Inc. (P5.44 billion) and office projects by Filinvest Cyberparks Inc. (P3.5 billion).

For the seven-year tenor, interest rate will be based on the corresponding local benchmark plus a spread of 125 to 165 basis points. For the 10-year bonds, these are targeted to be priced at a spread of 145 to 185 basis points over the local benchmark.

Local credit watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. has assigned a triple-A rating on the proposed issuance, the highest rating on its scale. This rating suggests that FLI’s capacity to meet financial commitment is “extremely strong.”