Filinvest lists P8.8-B bonds at PDEx

MANILA, Philippines - Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the investment holding company of the Gotianun family, has completed a bond offer that raised almost P9 billion in fresh funds.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, FDC said it will list today P8.8 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds due 2024. The bonds will be traded at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx).

Proceeds from the conglomerate’s first capital raising this year will finance investments in the hotel and power generation sector.

The bond offering ran from Jan. 13 to 17, with BPI Capital Corp. as issue manager and lead underwriter, together with BDO Capital & Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corp. and Standard Chartered Bank.

FDC said it took advantage of a portion of the P3-billion over-allotment option due to strong demand. FDC planned to sell P7-billion bonds, with an over-allotment option to cater to high demand.

Proceeds of the fixed-rate, 10-year retail bonds will finance various investments, FDC said.

“The net proceeds of the bonds will be utilized to partially finance projects that are being targeted to be undertaken by the company in the first quarter of 2014, the total capital expenditures of which amounts to P12.1 billion,” it pointed out.

Specifically, the holding firm committed to repay P5.37 billion worth of loans, spend P3.49 billion to build Hotel Crimson in Boracay, and invest P3.25 billion to put up a 405-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental.

To date, FDC Hotels Corp. is in the planning and design stage for a five-star, 192-room Crimson Resort and Spa in Boracay Island that will start operations in 2016.

For its part, subsidiary FDC Utilities Inc. is developing a 405-MW clean coal thermal power plant. The first two units of the power plant will start operations in 2016 while the remaining 135 MW is projected to be online in 2017.

FDC allotted roughly P33 billion for its capital expenditures this year to bankroll property development, hotel as well as power projects and at the same time fund the expansion of its banking business. It is way above the P20 billion spent in 2013.