More schools planned as STI taps debt mart

Tanco-led STI group, operator of one of the country’s biggest chain of private schools, plans to debut on the local bond market by March or April this year with a P5-billion securities offering.

In a phone interview, STI Education Systems Holdings Inc. (STI Holdings) chair Eusebio Tanco said the group has mandated China Bank and First Metro Investment Corp. to arrange the bond offering by STI Education Services Group Inc. (STI-ESG).

“It’s basically for expansion. It will be for building [schools] in greenfield areas, expanding capacity in existing sites and buying schools,” Tanco said.

This year, Tanco said STI would break ground on seven to eight new campuses. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA