SEC okays SMIC’S P15-B bond issue

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the investment holding firm of retail tycoon Henry Sy, has obtained the Securities and Exchange Commission’s nod to issue up to P15 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds.

The company intends to issue P10-billion Series C and D bonds maturing in seven and 10 years, respectively. In the event of oversubscription, another P5 billion will be offered to the public.

The bonds will be issued on June 21 and will be listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.

BDO Capital, BPI Capital, China Bank and First Metro Investments Corp. are the lead underwriters for the offering.

Net proceeds from the offering will be used to partly fund

the group’s expenditure requirements for the next five years and for general corporate purposes.

About P3.22 billion of the proceeds will be spent this year, broken down as follows: P2.18 billion for land acquisition, P643 million for the 204-room Park Inn Davao by Radisson and P400 million for SM Arena.

Park Inn Davao, the very first Park Inn Radisson in the Asia Pacific region, is slated for opening in the first quarter of 2013. The Park Inn brand is one of the hotel brands under Carlson and is the largest mid-market brand for hotels under development in Europe.

SM Arena, on the other hand, is a fi ve- story, fi rst class multi-purpose venue for sporting events, concerts, entertainment shows, and other similar events located on a two-hectare property within the Mall of Asia complex.

The bond issue was assigned the highest rating of PRS Aaa by domestic credit rating agency PhilRatings.

In issuing the rating, PhilRatings took into account

SMIC’s diversified portfolio, which includes core companies with strong market position, sustained earnings and recurring cash flows; its solid brand equity and experienced management team; strong liquidity; and sound capitalization.