SMC starts roadshow for P30B bond offer

San Miguel Corp. yesterday unveiled to institutional investors a new bond offering worth as much as P30 billion, proceeds from which would be used to refinance debt, trim US dollar obligations and invest in various businesses.

The bonds will be issued at five-, seven- and 10-year tenors. The base offer amounts to P20 billion but the conglomerate has the option to upsize the offering by up to P10 billion.

Based on an indicative guidance issued during an investors’ briefing yesterday, the five-year bonds will be priced to yield about 5.6 percent a year, the seven-year bonds, about 6 percent and the 10-year bonds, about 6.4 percent.

Interest rate setting will be finalized on March 1 ahead of the offering period to retail investors which will run from March 2 to 8. The bonds will be listed on March 15.

The offer bonds will be issued in scripless form in minimum denominations of P50,000 each and in multiples of P10,000 thereafter.

Seven big banks were mandated to manage the offering: BDO Capital & Investments Corp., BPI Capital Corp., Chinabank Capital, First Metro Investments Corp., ING, SB Capital and Standard Chartered. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA