DBP eyes more bond deals in 2010

MANILA, Philippines - The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will undertake more bond deals next year following its successful participation in the benchmark P38.8-billion bond issue of San Miguel Brewery Inc.

DBP president and chief executive officer Reynaldo G. David said that the state-run financial institution would continue to look for deals and mandates in partnership with the private sector.

“We will be catalysts for developing the capital markets, in assisting government in fund-raising activities especially for the infrastructure development, which is one of our key priorities,” he said.

The DBP chief executive said among the major deals in the pipeline involve infrastructure, power and utilities. The bank is currently working with the National Development Corp. and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for the privatization of MRT 2 transportation system.

DBP was part of a financial consortium that successfully launched the historic P38.8-billion SMB bond issue, the biggest in domestic corporate history. The deal attracted up to P50 billion in offers, again unprecedented in the Philippine capital markets.

Marketed in three-, five- and 10-year bonds, the SMB issue was later named deal of the year in the Asset Country Awards Asean 2009 for being the first Asian deal that made a significant contribution to the development of the finance industry in the Southeast Asian region.

The benchmark deal was likewise recognized in the Emerging Asia bond category of the International Financing Review (IFR) Awards 2009. IFR is the world’s leading source of capital markets intelligence, providing senior investment banking decision-makers with authoritative and unbiased commentary and analysis.

Aside from DBP, the other issue manager and bookrunner was HSBC. The other joint lead managers were BDO Capital Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Banking Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., ING Bank, the LBP, the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Standard Chartered Bank, and Union Bank of the Philippines.