Megaworld eyes offshore bond offer

Real esate tycoon Andrew Tan

Tycoon Andrew Tan-led property developer Megaworld Corp. is venturing into the overseas bond market for the first time in five years.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, Megaworld said it had hired American investment bank JP Morgan to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings in Singapore and Hong Kong starting on Tuesday (April 3).

“A proposed Regulation S US dollar denominated securities offering may follow, subject to market conditions,” the disclosure said.

Regulation S – often referred to as ‘Reg S’ – refers to bonds or stocks that are issued in the Eurobond market for international investors. They may not be offered, sold or delivered within the U.S.

Megaworld’s new overseas bond offering, if issued, are expected to be unrated by credit rating agencies.

The last time that Megaworld tapped the offshore bond market was in 2013, when it raised $250 million through a deal that achieved the lowest yield among 10-year dollar corporate bond deals carved out of the Philippines and cheapest borrowing of this tenor among unrated issues in Southeast Asia. The 10-year offshore bond issue was then priced at 4.25 percent per annum.