BPI readies issuance of dollar bonds

MANILA, Philippines — The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is close to issuing its dollar-denominated bond sale, as it has started a series of fixed income investor meetings.

To arrange the meetings, BPI tapped BPI Capital Corp. as sole global coordinator and lead arranger, alongside J.P. Morgan Securities plc, Mizuho Securities Asia Limited, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS AG Singapore Branch as joint lead arrangers.

“A Regulation S offering of US dollar-denominated senior unsecured debt securities (the “Notes”) may follow, subject to market conditions,” the bank said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“The Notes are expected to be rated Baa2 by Moody’s, and when issued, will constitute a drawdown under BPI’s medium term note program,” it added.

BPI also said SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan would be the legal adviser of the bank while Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles would be the legal adviser of the joint lead arrangers, as to Philippine law.

As to English law, the legal adviser of the joint lead arrangers would be Milbank (Hong Kong) LLP while Milbank LLP is the legal adviser of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. the trustee.

Earlier in February, the Ayala-led bank was looking at returning to the offshore bond market this month to refinance $300 million worth of bonds set to mature in September. The planned offshore bond issuance will not be later than the second quarter.

In August last year, BPI raised $300 million through a syndicated loan to partially finance its maturing foreign obligations. The amount was higher than the original $200 million due to a strong reception in syndication supported by 21 lenders.

Loan syndication occurs when a borrower requires an amount that is too large for a single lender and multiple lenders pool together and forms a syndicate to provide the borrower with the requested capital.

The bank opted for a loan syndication instead of returning to the offshore debt market to refinance its existing $600 million bond due in August last year.