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FIRST Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) said it raised
the amount it is borrowing through the sale of bonds, citing
better-than-expected investor interest in the IOUs.
In a statement, FPHC said it
successfully closed its fixed-rate corporate bond sale. ING Bank
served as the sole book runner and lead manager.
The sale was oversubscribed,
which prompted the company to increase its issue size from the
initial P3 billion to P5 billion. Investor demand was spread across
the 5-, 7- and 10-year tenors from a diversified base of investors.
The debt papers were rated a PRS Aa+ by Philratings.
“This issue marks the
successful reentry of First Holdings in the local capital markets
after 10 years, and we are pleased with the clear and resounding
vote of confidence given by our investors,” said Elpidio Ibañez,
First Holdings president.
The company said proceeds of the
bond sale would go to general corporate purposes, which include
capital expenditures and acquisitions.
Among FPHC’s subsidiaries are
First Gen Corp. and Manila Electric Co. for power, Manila North
Tollways Corp. (MNTC) for tollways and Rockwell Land Corp. for
property development.
MNTC operates and maintains the
North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), which is the main corridor to Central
and Northern Luzon from Metro Manila. It would start the second
phase of expansion during the fourth quarter this year after the
government has provided the right of way that would connect C5 to
the expressway and MacArthur highway, the company earlier said.
The second phase of the expansion
is a 2.336-km highway connecting C5 to NLEX and would cost around P3
billion and would significantly relieve traffic pressure from
Balintawak to the expressway.
--Likha C. Cuevas
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