2 Ayala Land subsidiaries to issue P6-B bonds

MANILA, Philippines - Two subsidiaries of property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) plan to raise P6 billion as they tap the bond market for the first time.

Fresh capital will allow Alveo Land Corp. and Avida Land Corp. to continue their strong growth momentum, an official said.

“We look forward to everyone’s stronger support in the last tranche of the ALI fundraising totaling P6 billion as we move forward to the final leg of project trinity,” said ALI chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael.

Ysmael said the property firm’s aspiration is “to graduate Avida Land and Alveo Land to the debt capital markets through their respective maiden P3-billion bond issues.”

Last week, ALI listed its P15 billion, 10-year bonds to the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.

In June, ALI’s board of directors approved the sale of up to P21 billion in long-term, fixed-rate corporate bonds through a general public offering. It will be the largest fundraising of ALI thus far, eclipsing the P15 billion it secured from a retail bond offering in April last year.

Ysmael said ALI is still seeking the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the bond offering, which is scheduled in September.

“This will be the first time for non-listed firms to actually access the listed debt capital markets,” Ysmael said, adding that the two firms can tap the debt markets on their own moving forward.

Avida Land is the affordable unit of the property giant while Alveo Land focuses on the upper and middle-income segment.