Pagbilao power project bags financing award

MANILA, Philippines - The P33.31-billion, 15-year project finance facility of Pagbilao Energy Corp. (PEC) has been named the Best Power Deal in the Triple A Asia Infrastructure Awards 2015 of the Hong Kong-based finance publication The Asset.  First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, acted as one of the mandated lead arrangers of the finance facility together with BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. FMIC president Roberto Juanchito Dispo said financing projects like PEC would normally require the presence of and support from foreign banks or multilateral agencies. “Owing to the continuous growth of the Philippine domestic market and improvement of the country’s banking system, local banks now have the ability to back projects of this magnitude, fully in peso-denominated currency. This deal shows that big ticket infrastructure projects can now be financed locally,” Dispo added.