MANILA,
Philippines - SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the listed flagship firm of retail
tycoon Henry Sy, will list today P25 billion worth of retail bonds on the
Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., allowing holders of this instrument to
freely trade their bonds through accredited brokers.
The bonds to
be listed are the P10 billion worth of fixed-rate Series A bonds due 2014 and
Series B bonds due 2016, plus the recently issued P15 billion worth of
fixed-rate Series C Bonds due 2019 and Series D Bonds due 2022.
SMIC
executive vice-president and chief financial officer Jose T. Sio said the
bonds’ listing on the PDEX would create a venue through which the company can
provide increased flexibility to its bondholders while also giving greater
access to retail investors of SM bonds.
SMIC’s P15
billion bond issue, which closed last July 6, 2012 was upsized from the initial
offer of P10 billion on strong demand from both retail and institutional
investors. Proceeds would be used to finance the medium-term projects of the
group in the hotel and commercial properties business.
The bond
issue, which ran from June 27 to July 6, was assigned the highest corporate
rating of PRS AAA by Philippine Ratings Services Corp.
The rating denotes that such obligations are
of the highest quality with minimal credit risk, and that the issuing company’s
capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligations is extremely
strong.
BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, BPI
Capital Corporation, China Banking Corporation, and First Metro Investment
Corporation were the joint lead underwriters for the issue.
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