Philippine Daily Inquirer Digital Edition

AYALA RAISES $400M FROM PERPETUAL BONDS

By Doris Dumlao-Abadilla @Philbizwatcher INQ

Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest business house, has raised $400 million from a fresh offering of perpetual bonds —warm global investor reception to which allowed the debt paper to fetch the lowest interest rate ever for an issuer unrated by any credit rating agency.

The fixed-for-life securities to be issued by Ayala’s wholly owned unit AYC Finance Ltd. were priced to yield 3.9 percent a year—40 basis points lower than the initial price guidance of 4.3 percent—as the book-building attracted investor orders that were 4.4 times larger than the offer size.

The final order book reached over $1.75 billion, supported by a wide range of “high-quality” investors, Ayala disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

This strong offshore investor interest allowed the conglomerate to borrow at record-low rates, easing further from its borrowing cost when it last tapped the overseas bond market to issue similar instruments prepandemic. At 3.9 percent, apart from setting a new record as the lowest-yielding unrated perpetual fixed-for-life notes ever, this also marked the third lowest perpetual fixed-for-life notes in Asia.

“As we reposition our portfolio to adapt to the rapidly changing environment, the success of this issuance strengthens further our financial position that enables us to scale investments in critical sectors and do our part in helping reinvigorate the Philippine economy,” Fernando Zobel de Ayala, president and chief executive officer of Ayala, said in a press statement.

INQUIRER PLUS / BUSINESS

en-ph

2021-09-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://philippinedailyinquirerplus.pressreader.com/article/281973200787863

Philippine Daily Inquirer