Filinvest raising P15B from bond sale

Gotianun-led conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. plans to raise up to P15 billion from a public offering of retail bonds, boosting fresh funds for expansion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, FDC said its board had approved the issuance of fixed-rate bonds worth up to P8 billion with an oversubscription option of up to P7 billion.

The board also gave management authority to draw up the prospectus, negotiate the final terms and conditions, and apply for registration and licensing of bonds with the Securities and Exchange Commission and list the bonds on local fixed income exchange Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.

FDC is into property development, hospitality, banking, sugar production and energy generation.

Last year, FDC announced its debut into Thailand’s property market with a deal to acquire luxury property developer Choengmon Real Estate Co. Ltd. (CRE). This marked FDC’s first foray into the overseas market after starting the property business in 1967.

FDC entered into a share purchase agreement for the purchase of all the issued shares of Choengmon, a limited liability company established under the laws of Thailand. Choengmon is currently developing an international five-star luxury quality resort.

The resort will be operated by FDC’s subsidiary under the group’s homegrown Crimson brand. To date, Crimson has operations in Alabang, Cebu and Boracay.

Recently, a consortium led by the Filinvest group sealed the purchase of a 19.2-hectare reclaimed land in South Road Properties (SRP) owned by the Cebu City government for P6.7 billion. The consortium, composed of Filinvest Land Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Cyberzone Properties Inc. and Sytengco-owned companies, signed a deed of absolute sale with the city government for the acquisition of the parcel of land—referred to as Lot 1 in SRP—and gave its full payment on Dec. 19.

The Filinvest consortium won the public bidding held by the city back in July 2015 for the purchase of the same property.

The group intends to use this new landbank for a mixed-use development with residential, office, commercial and retail components. This is seen to complement the array of residential and lifestyle real estate developments on its existing 40-hectare joint venture with Cebu City, called City di Mare. INQ