Vol. XXII, No. 75 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Friday, November 7, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
LISTED PROPERTY developer Filinvest Development Corp. is planning to sell P3 billion worth of bonds to private investors to finance two projects and pay off maturing debts.
In a disclosure to the bourse yesterday, the firm said its board approved on Wednesday the sale of the bonds. It has picked HSBC as the lead manager of the offering.
The firm said its president, Josephine Gotianun-Yap, would negotiate the terms and conditions of the bond issue.
Partial proceeds of the bond sale will be used over two-and-a-half years to finance the firm’s mixed-use tourism project in Cebu called Seascapes.
The money also fund Beaufortwell, a 42-storey tower in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, said a company official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said Filinvest Development also intends to use a portion of the proceeds to pay off loans, but declined to specify the amount.
He said the bonds would be offered to qualified private and big investors. Filinvest Development has yet to decide on the date of the sale and the coupon rate of the bond.
Asked what Filinvest would do if investors ask for high interest rates given tight credit markets, he said the company might instead borrow from banks.
He is, however, confident the company would be able to get good rates given that they have a low debt-to-capital ratio.
Also on Wednesday, the Filinvest board approved the conversion of Seascapes to an ordinary stock corporation from a nonstock, nonprofit private membership club.
In September, the company said it would spend about P4 billion to develop Seascapes, a 12-hectare beach-side property in Mactan, Cebu. Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2009. — D.G.K. Carreon
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