BPI raises $400 million from offshore debt market

MANILA, Philippines — Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has raised $400 million after successfully tapping into the offshore debt market for the first time since 2019.

The Ayala-led bank is issuing five-year Reg S senior unsecured notes priced at 5.25 percent per annum under BPI’s $3 billion medium term notes program.

“The five-year notes were priced at US Treasury spread of T+105 basis points with a coupon of 5.25 percent, representing the tightest ever spread on a five-year bond from a non-sovereign Philippine issuer, adding another milestone to BPI’s long list of achievements,” BPI said.

The transaction is expected to settle on March 26, BPI said.

Earlier this week, BPI conducted a series of meetings covering investors from Hong Kong, Singapore and London.

The listed bank then proceeded to launch the transaction bookbuilding on Tuesday, after receiving positive feedback from investors, with an initial pricing guidance of T+140 basis points.

“Orderbooks saw strong momentum throughout the day, despite a week rife with global central bank policy meetings, with the final books standing at over $1.3 billion, as the notes were 3.3 times oversubscribed,” the lender said.

“This allowed 35 basis points of pricing compression from initial pricing guidance to final pricing, even as the issue size was increased from the original indications of $300 million, to accommodate the strong oversubscription levels,” it added.

The notes were distributed across different regions, 81 percent to Asia and 19 percent to Europe, the Middle East and Africa or offshore US accounts.

Around 51 percent went to fund managers, 29 percent to banks, 17 percent to private banks and financial institutions and three percent to insurance.

According to BPI, the proceeds will be used for refinancing and general corporate purposes.

BPI Capital Corp. was the sole global coordinator, while JP Morgan, Mizuho, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS served as joint lead managers.

BPI last forayed into the offshore debt market in September 2019 where it raised $300 million.