Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank) yesterday said its US dollar-denominated senior unsecured fixed rate notes at an aggregate principal amount of $500 million was five times oversubscribed with 120 investors at its peak.
The notes carry a coupon of 2.125 percent payable semi-annually.
These were priced at US Treasury spreads of T+200 basis points, after initial price guidance of T+235 bps area.
Metrobank said this reflects the strong confidence of investors on the bank. Metrobank is rated Baa2 Stable by Moody’s and BBB- Stable by Fitch.
Metrobank said that of the total, 81 percent was allocated Asia and the remaining to Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The issuance represents the first senior notes of Metrobank in the international capital markets, matching the lowest coupon for a Philippine borrower.
Upon issuance, the net proceeds from the bonds will be used to tap longer-term offshore funding, diversify Metrobank’s funding sources and finance maturing short-term borrowings.
UBS AG Hong Kong Branch and First Metro Investment Corp. are the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the transaction. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. acted as the joint lead managers.
