First Metro Investment gets top Asian award

First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, was awarded the 2002 Triple A Award as The Best Domestic Investment Bank, Philippines by The Asset, Asia’s leading finance magazine for corporates and institutional investors.

First Metro was selected by The Asset based on deals executed the past year, innovations introduced to clients during the year, league-table standing, estimated market share relative to competition for various products, and client testimonials.

In 2002, the total capital raised by First Metro was P82 billion, or approximately $1.5 billion. This was nearly double the P43 billion it raised in 2001.

The company issue managed, along with Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the landmark P62.9-billion retail treasury bond (RTB) issue in June 2002. This was the largest fund raising exercise by the Philippine government and the single largest financial transaction in the country ever.

First Metro also lead managed an innovative zero-coupon bond deal for the Home Guarantee Corp. (HGC), a government financial institution created to provide financing for home building and improvements under a system in which the lending institution is insured against loss of its capital. The five-year offering raised P7 billion for HGC, which was able to tap private money to jumpstart its housing program.

The activities of First Metro for 2002 included acting as domestic selling agent and issue coordinator for the $125-million subordinated debt offering of its parent Metrobank, debt restructuring for Legend International Resorts, project financing for Ascendas Corp., as well as participation in major debt and equity underwritings, such as Ayala Land’s P3-billion bond issue and the P1.8-billion initial public offering (IPO) of Banco de Oro Universal Bank. – TPT