BDO beats SMC record for biggest harvest from bond sale

PHOTO: Official website of BDO / bdo.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines  —Sy-led BDO Unibank Inc. said on Monday it raised P63.3 billion from the sale of bonds, overtaking the previous record-holder, conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), which raised P60 billion at the start of 2023.

BDO, the country’s largest bank, said the sale of Asean sustainability bonds saw overwhelming demand from investors, with the issue size increased by more than 12 times from the original P5 billion.

READ: BDO returns to bond market, sets P5-B Asean sustainability debt sale

“The issuance was backed by strong demand from retail and institutional investors, with a rapid build-up in orders resulting in the shortening of the offer period by a week to Jan 16, 2024,” BDO said in a stock exchange filing on Monday.

The peso-denominated bonds were priced at 6.025 percent and are due in 1.5 years. The bonds were listed on Monday.

“The net proceeds of the issuance are intended to diversify the bank’s funding sources, and finance/refinance eligible assets as defined in the bank’s sustainable finance framework,” BDO said.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, proceeds from the sustainability bonds will be used to finance environment and social projects.

READ: BDO green bond is PH’s largest corporate issue

The latest bond sale was the second Asean sustainability bond offer from BDO. In January 2022, BDO raised P52.7 billion from the sale of corporate notes.

Standard Chartered Bank was hired as the sole arranger of the issuance, with BDO Unibank, Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank acting as selling agents. BDO Capital and Investment Corp. was tapped as financial advisor to the deal. INQ