BDO Capital bullish on property market

MANILA, Philippines – BDO Capital and Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of BDO Unibank Inc., expects the Philippine real estate market to remain robust this year, with the growth still to be driven by business process outsourcing (BPO) companies.

BDO Capital president Eduardo V. Francisco said BPO companies will remain in high demand of commercial and retail space, as well as mixed use developments to provide for the offices and peripheral needs of BPO employees.

A clear testament of BDO Capital’s continued optimism on the real estate industry was the recently inked P10-billion fixed rate corporate notes facility with DMCI Project Developers Inc. (DMCI Homes), where it acted as the lead arranger and sole bookrunner of the loan facility.

The note holders include BDO Leasing, BDO Private Bank, BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, BPI Asset Management, ALFM Mutual Funds, Development Bank of the Philippines, and Security Bank Corp.

DMCI Homes will pay the notes facility at prevailing interest rates, with the terms of payment broken down into two parts – the first P5 billion will be paid for within five years, while the balance of P5 billion will be due within seven years.