Converge’s bond offer swamped by funders

Dennis Anthony H. Uy, founder and CEO of Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. | Photo from convergeict.com

Investors flocked to the P10-billion maiden bond issuance of Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc., resulting in an oversubscription of eight times.

The demand for the bond transaction was buoyed by retail investors, banks, pension funds, insurance companies and retirement funds, among others.

On Friday, the debt instruments were listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. The bond offering came 18 months after the company made its debut on the local stock exchange.

Converge CEO and cofounder Dennis Anthony Uy said the proceeds will fund the internet service provider’s projects, including network expansion of its fiber broadband services, especially in unserved and underserved areas of the country.

Strong confidence

“The success of our maiden bond issuance is a boon for us, as it signaled strong investor confidence on the sustained robust growth of the company,” Converge president and cofounder Maria Grace Uy added.

The 5.59-percent peso-denominated debt issuance from the company’s P20-billion shelf-registration program has a base tranche of P5 billion and an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion.

These are set to mature on April 8, 2027.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was the issue manager of the transaction. BDO Capital and BPI Capital Corp. acted as the joint lead underwriters.

Meanwhile, the selling agents were Land Bank of the Philippines and RCBC Capital Corp. while the trustee was BDO Unibank Inc.’s Trust and Investments Group.

Offer period ran from March 28 to April 1.

“Stable and secure internet is still a luxury for many, and it is our mission to bring this to ordinary Filipinos in all areas of the country. We believe that access to the internet should not be a privilege of a few, but the right of everyone,” Mr. Uy concluded.

Converge allocated a budget of P26 billion to P28 billion this year to ramp up deployment of additional fiber ports. Its fiber backbone reached 103,000 kilometers with 1.7 million total residential subscribers as of end-2021.