DoubleDragon raises P7.4B from debt note issuance

Property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp. has raised P7.4 billion for capital outlays by selling long-term debt notes to selected institutional investors.

Proceeds from the issuance of these seven-year fixed-rate corporate notes will be used by the company to fund its capital expenditures, such as for the development of a chain of community malls under the “CityMall” brand, the construction of DoubleDragon Plaza at The Meridian Park, Dragon8 Shopping Center-Divisoria, The Skysuites Tower and general corporate purposes.

“Due to strong institutional demand, the company increased the note issuance to P7.4 billion from the original P6.5 billion,” DoubleDragon said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

SCREENGRAB from doubledragon.com.ph

Unlike retail bonds, which are sold through a public offering and must go through a more tedious regulatory approval process, corporate notes are a quicker fund-raising option for top-tier corporations as they are sold to no more than 19 selected institutional investors.

The issuance was arranged by BDO Capital & Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of Banco de Oro Unibank.

DoubleDragon chair Edgar Sia was pleased with the institutional support for his company’s fund-raising activity.

“We are glad that the great long-term potential of DoubleDragon Properties Corp. has been recognized,” he said.

DoubleDragon was previously known as Injap Land Corp. which started in 2009 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sia’s holding company Injap Investments Inc.

HoneyStar Holdings of Jollibee Foods Corp. founder and former chief executive officer Tony Tan Caktiong afterwards acquired 50 percent of the company, which thus became an equal venture.

The “DoubleDragon” branding was conceptualized as both Sia and Tan Caktiong were both born in the Lunar Year of the Dragon and their property partnership was finalized in a Year of the Dragon.

Through its flagship subsidiary CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. (CMCCI), DoubleDragon plans to build a chain of 100 community malls across the country. The company envisions to build one of the largest branded independent community mall network in the Philippines with floor areas of about 5,000 to 10,000 square meters in each location and will be located in prime locations, mostly in Visayas and Mindanao. Tycoon Henry Sy-led SM Investments Corp. has a 34 percent stake in CMCCI.

Sia founded the Mang Inasal grilled chicken franchise of which a 70 percent interest was sold in 2010 to Jollibee.