THE COUNTRY’S largest bank, Banco de Oro Unibank, has raised $500 million from a three-year syndicated term loan facility, marking the largest fund-raising by a local lender using such a structure.
BDO intends to use the loan proceeds for the refinancing of an existing term loan and for general banking and corporate purposes.
Banking sources said the loan was priced at a spread of 140 basis points over Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate).
In a statement on Thursday, the banking arm of the SM group said the facility had generated strong interest and was oversubscribed, prompting BDO to upsize the issuance from the initial plan of $350 million.
The bank said it had obtained lending commitments from various lenders across the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Lead arrangers and bookrunners were Bank of America N.A.; Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch; The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) Ltd.; Mizuho Bank Ltd.; Standard Chartered Bank, and United Overseas Bank Limited.
BDO has one of the largest distribution networks among Philippine banks, with 899 operating branches and over 2,700 ATMs (automated teller machines) nationwide. It also has a branch in Hong Kong and 27 overseas remittance and representative offices in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.