Posted on June 15, 2015 10:10:00 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
By Krista A. M. Montealegre, Senior
Reporter
A SUBSIDIARY of Vista Land &
Lifescapes, Inc. has launched a $1-billion medium-term note (MTN) program, with
the maiden $300-million issuance enjoying strong demand from investors.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange
yesterday, the listed homebuilder said VLL International, Inc. (VLLI) raised
$300 million from the sale of senior unsecured notes due 2022, the first
seven-year tenor notes issued by the company under its debt program.
“The MTN program gives us the
flexibility so anytime we can tap the market,” Brian N. Edang, Vista Land head
for investor relations, said in a phone interview.
The new notes, which were priced at
7.375%, were issued as part of the company’s liability management exercise
aimed at lengthening the maturity of some $450 million worth of debt, the
company said.
VLLI on June 2 offered to buy back its
$100 million notes due 2018 and $350-million notes due 2019. About 46% or $206
million notes were tendered by creditors and accepted by the company at the end
of the tender offer period.
The Vista Land unit will use the
proceeds from the $300-million offering for refinancing, general working
capital purposes and other general corporate purposes.
Order book reached a record $1
billion, with the property developer attributing the strong demand to its
“growing brand name within the Philippines credit space,” it said in a
statement.
The new notes were widely distributed
with banks accounting for around 52%, fund managers for 40%, and private banks
for 8%.
In terms of geography, Asia cornered
91% of the notes while Europe took up 9%. Allocation for Asian offshore
investors stood at 51% in line with the company’s objectives of diversifying
away from its onshore investor base.
HSBC was hired as sole structuring
advisor and, together with DBS Bank Ltd., was joint dealer manager for the
tender offer. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was tapped as domestic dealer
manager.
DBS and HSBC acted as joint global
coordinators, joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the new notes
issuance while BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and China Banking Corp. were
joint domestic lead managers.
Vista Land shares lost three centavos
or 0.42% to close at P7.05 apiece yesterday.
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