BDO raises $600M from offshore bond market

BDO prexy Nestor Tan

The country’s leading lender, BDO Unibank, has raised $600 million from the offshore bond market, building up its cash hoard while interest rates are favorable.

The fixed rate notes issue has a coupon rate of 2.125 percent per annum and a tenor of 5.5 years, BDO disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The bonds carry an investment grade rating of “Baa2” from Moody’s Investor Service.

The transaction was oversubscribed, with orders reaching $2.9 billion, equivalent to almost five times the offered amount.

“The senior note issue is part of the bank’s liability management initiatives to tap longer-term funding sources to support dollar-denominated projects,” BDO said.

Standard Chartered Bank acted as sole global coordinator, while Standard Chartered Bank and Merrill Lynch (Singapore) Pte. Ltd acted as joint bookrunners and joint lead managers for the transaction.