Jollibee to raise $600 million from securities issue

MANILA, Philippines — Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) is raising $600 million through the issuance of dollar-denominated securities.

In a disclosure yesterday, JFC said it already priced the US dollar-denominated guaranteed senior perpetual capital securities offering with an initial distribution rate of 3.9 percent, non-call for five years and payable semi-annually.

Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of JFC, will issue the securities, marking the first ever bond or perpetual securities issuance from JFC.

It also marks the first time JFC has tapped the capital markets since its initial public offering in 1993.

The issuance also marks one of the first by an Asian restaurant company.

The transaction was oversubscribed by almost 10 times the original intended issue amount of $400 million, allowing the company to upsize the transaction to $600 million and tighten final pricing by 35 basis points to 3.9 percent from the initial price guidance of 4.25 percent.

“This marks the lowest pricing for a five-year perpetual securities issued by a Philippine company reflecting the strong demand for a JFC bond and the reputable credit standing of the company,” JFC said.

Proceeds from the issue will help JFC strengthen its balance sheet.

“The objective of management for this issuance is to further strengthen the balance sheet of JFC to build a stronger foundation for accelerating its growth in order to achieve its vision to become one of the top five restaurant companies in the world,” JFC said.

In particular, proceeds from the offering will be used to primarily refinance the short-term debt from the acquisition of International Coffee and Tea LLC (The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®) completed on Sept. 24, 2019 as well as to fund initiatives aligned with issuer’s general corporate purposes.

The securities will be accounted for as equity and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.