Demand swamps 1st JFC float
The objective of management for this issuance is to further strengthen the balance sheet of JFC to build a stronger foundation for accelerating its growth
Food chain giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) on Friday said it raised $600 million from the offer of US dollar-denominated senior perpetual capital securities.
This marks the homegrown food giant’s first bond sale and first offshore capital market offer since its debut at the stock market nearly three decades ago.
JFC said the transaction was over ten times oversubscribed from its initial intended issue size of $400 million, enabling it to upsize the transaction to $600 million as well as tighten the final pricing by 35 basis points to 3.9 percent, from the initial price guidance of 4.25 percent.
The five-year securities are payable semi-annually. It will be issued by JFC’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL) and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.
Debt service to be funded
JFC intends to use the proceeds from the fund-raising primarily to refinance short-term debt from its $350-million acquisition of US coffee brand The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf last year, as well as general corporate purposes.
“The objective of management for this issuance is to further strengthen the balance sheet of JFC to build a stronger foundation for accelerating its growth in order to achieve its vision to become one of the top 5 restaurant companies in the world,” JFC reported to the stock exchange.
The company noted that the offer serves as its first bond or perpetual securities issuance and the first time it entered the capital markets since it made its initial public offering in 1993.