UBP obtains $358-M syndicated loan

UNION Bank of the Philippines has successfully tapped the debt market through a $358-million three-year syndicated loan facility.

UnionBank said its syndicated financing was well-received with an overwhelming response during syndication, attracting 15 lenders, despite prevailing market uncertainty and volatility. The bank said the facility was upsized to $358 million, or almost 2.5 times the original launch size of $150 million.

The proceeds will be used to refinance its maturing USD loan and existing USD bonds, and fund its general corporate purposes.

“This shows how Union Bank continues to gain the market’s confidence in our strategic priorities. After our P11-billion digital bond issuance in June, which was 11 times oversubscribed, we now have successfully executed this $358-million syndicated loan facility, which is almost 2.5 times upsized. This enables us to better manage our financing requirements and continue executing our strategy as the market remains volatile,” said Johnson Sia, treasurer and head of global markets.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. and MUFG Bank Ltd. were the mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners on the transaction.