Puregold eyes upsize of debt notes sale to P8B

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Retailer Puregold Price Club may upsize its planned sale of debt notes to selected institutional investors to P8 billion from a base offer of P5 billion.

Based on presentation materials disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, Puregold said interested investors may submit their firm commitment from October 8 to 12 while the pricing and deal signing would be on October 19.

The debt notes will have two series: “A” with a tenor of five years and one day and series “B” with a tenor of seven years.

Unlike corporate bonds which require a tedious registration process at the Securities and Exchange Commission, corporate notes are a faster fund-raising option for big companies as these papers are sold to no more than 19 institutional investors.

The interest rate on the notes will be fixed based on the applicable PDST-F benchmark rated plus a spread of 70 to 120 points.

First Metro Investment Corp. is the lead underwriter and arranger of this fund-raising. Puregold plans to use the proceeds to finance Puregold’s new store-roll outs, organically and via acquisitions.