Ayala raising funds via 15-year bond offering

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. launched on Friday its public offering of 15-year bonds that were priced to yield 6.875 percent a year.

It is the first corporate bond issue of this tenor in the domestic capital market.

Ayala hopes to raise P10 billion from the bond offering, which will fall due in 2027,  as it seeks opportunities for expansion through both organic growth and value-enhancing acquisitions, including infrastructure concerns.

“We always ensure that we maintain a highly flexible funding position at the holding company level that will allow us to invest in sizable projects without impeding other value-enhancing initiatives we are currently undertaking,” Ayala treasurer Ramon Opulencia said in a statement.

“The low-interest rate environment and the robust liquidity in the system provide an ideal environment for us to be able to stretch our tenors and match the anticipated long gestation period of the investments that Ayala envisions,” he added.

The bonds are being offered to the public through underwriters BPI Capital Corp., BDO Capital & Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., HSBC, ING Bank Manila, RCBC Capital Corp., SB Capital Investment Corp., and Standard Chartered Bank.

The bonds will be listed on local fixed income exchange Philippine Dealing and Exchange System on May 11.

Ayala has been putting more chips into new growth areas like infrastructure and power generation. Late last year, the conglomerate won the bid for the Daang Hari connector toll road under the government’s public private partnership program.—Doris C. Dumlao