AEV raising funds via retail bonds offering

Conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. plans to raise up to P30 billion from a fresh bond offering, mostly to fund acquisitions, future investment and other corporate requirements.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, AEV said its board had approved the issuance of fixed-rate peso-denominated retail bonds.

This will mark AEV’s return to the local bond market for the first time since 2015.

The bonds were planned to be issued in one or two tranches, depending on market conditions. The bonds are expected to be offered to the general public in 2019.

Based on the disclosure, the bonds will be registered under the shelf registration program of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which gives issuers a three-year window to register and sell under the same prospectus and other regulatory filing requirements a certain volume of securities that may not all be used up right away.

AEV is also planning to list the proposed bonds with  fixed income trading platform Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.

The board of directors delegated to management the final determination of the offer price, tenors, and other terms and conditions of the bonds.

Proceeds are expected to fund part of AEV’s capital spending budget which may reach P50 billion this year, mostly for power, water and property businesses.

AEV is also open to tapping the offshore bond market in the future if its international businesses—like power and Gold Coin—would grow faster.

Last July, the group signed a $334-million deal to acquire a 75-percent stake in Singapore-based animal feeds manufacturer Gold Coin Management Holdings Ltd., a major producer of animal feeds and operator of 20 livestock and aqua feed mills across 11 countries in Asia. This is the largest offshore investment made by AEV’s Pilmico International in Asia Pacific to date.

For the power projects, AEV is looking at expanding within the region and is now in talks for opportunities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar. In Indonesia, the group is looking at various types of power businesses.  —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA