Del Monte's Philippine unit raises 6.5b pesos from bond offering

MAINBOARD-LISTED food and beverage company Del Monte Pacific said its Philippines subsidiary has raised 6.47 billion pesos (S$182.3 million) from the maiden issuance of fixed-rate bonds in a bid to lower borrowing costs while lengthening debt maturity profile.

The bond offering, which consists of three-year bonds with an interest rate of 3.484 per cent and five-year bonds with an interest rate of 3.7563 per cent, was 1.29 times oversubscribed.

The unit, Del Monte Philippines Inc (DMPI), plans to list the bonds in the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corporation on Oct 30.

The offering was "well-received" by a good mix of retail and institutional investors that include insurance companies, retirement funds and asset management groups, said Del Monte Pacific.

Proceeds from the issuance will be used to refinance and term out existing short-term loans, as well as convert them into long-term liabilities.

BDO Capital and Investment Corp, China Bank Capital Corp, First Metro Investment Cor and RCBC Capital Corp were the joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners for the maiden bond issuance.

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Exchange Equity Partners acted as its financial adviser.

In January, Del Monte Pacific entered an agreement for the proposed sale of a 13 per cent stake in DMPI for US$130 million with Singapore-incorporated SEA Diner Holdings Pte Ltd.

Del Monte Pacific's shares closed flat at S$0.130 on Wednesday.