Robinsons Land gets SEC permit to sell P12B bonds

MANILA, Philippines–Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corp. has obtained authority from the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer as much as P12 billion worth of retail bonds to raise fresh funds for expansion and to refinance debt.

Based on a document from the SEC, the real estate investment arm of JG Summit Holdings Inc. has set aside P17 billion in capital expenditure for fiscal year 2015.

RLC has P8.1 billion in short-term debt from various banks that it plans to refinance.

The company will offer to the public bonds with tenors of seven and 10 years. The base offer is P10 billion but RLC was given leeway to upsize by P2 billion in case of strong market demand.

The bonds will be issued in scripless form in minimum denominations of P50,000 each and in multiples of P10,000 thereafter. They will be redeemed at 100 percent of face value on the maturity date while interest will be paid on a semi-annual basis.

Mandated as joint issue managers and lead managers for the offering are BDO Capital and Investment Corp., HSBC Ltd., SB Capital Investment Corp. and Standard Chartered Bank.

The bonds have been rated “triple-A” by local credit watchdog Philippine Rating Services Corp.

Proceeds from the offering will be used by RLC to partially or fully refinance its existing debt obligations. As of end-September 2014, the property developer had P18.1 billion in debt, of which P8.1 billion were short-term borrowings.

RLC, which is 60.97-percent owned by JG Summit, is one of the country’s leading property developers. As of fiscal year ended September 2014, RLC had P85.37 billion in assets. Net income for the fiscal year amounted to P4.73 billion, 5.8-percent higher than the previous year’s. Total consolidated revenues were up 7.2 percent at P17.05 billion.