Megaworld Corp. said it has raised $350 million through the issuance of a seven-year dollar-denominate set to be listed at the Singapore stock exchange.
The unsecured, Reg S Registered bonds carry a coupon of 4.125 percent, the “lowest coupon achieved for a Philippine corporate entity on a 7-year US dollar public bond transaction,” Megaworld said.
The Andrew Tan-led developer said book orders were in excess of $500 million prior to the bonds’ Asia launch and reached $1 billion prior to the release of final price guidance.
“The quality of the orderbook allowed almost 40 percent of the transaction to be allocated to fund managers and asset managers,” Megaworld said.
“The notes, which will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited on Aug. 3, 2020, are considered to be Megaworld’s first senior vanilla bond issuance since 2013, and the lowest ever coupon in the dollar bond market achieved by the company throughout its corporate history,” it added.
Aside from the new record low coupon for a dollar bond issued by a Philippine real estate company, Megaworld said the issuance “was among the largest issue size for dollar bond offering among real estate companies in the Philippines.”
“It also recorded the among the fastest completion among US dollar bond issuances by a Philippine corporate issuer of only 11 days,” it added.
Investor calls were conducted throughout Asia and Europe on July 22, 2020, achieving strong participation and discussions among top investors, which centered on an update of the Megaworld credit and its relative resilience compared to other Philippine real estate issuers against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The terms for the new 7-year US dollar benchmark were released the following day after receipt of significant indications of interest.
“This issuance puts Megaworld in a good position to benefit from the eventual recovery of the Philippine economy. In spite of the pandemic, demand for real estate offerings has remained strong as many still view it as a safe investment. Additionally, we foresee that business process outsourcing companies may need more office spaces because of physical distancing requirements. This infusion of funds will support our investment pipeline and future land banking initiatives,” said Kevin Tan, Megaworld chief strategy officer.
