JG Summit eyes P30 B from bonds

MANILA, Philippines - JG Summit Holdings Inc., the investment holding firm of tycoon John Gokongwei, plans to raise as much as P30 billion from the bond market.

This move will mark JG Summits third major fundraising effort as it pays the P72-billion worth of minority stake in power distribution giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

In a regulatory filing, JG Summit said it filed registration papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue P20 billion in retail bonds, with an oversubscription option of up to P10 billion.

“The net proceeds from the bond issuance shall be utilized by the company to partially finance the company’s acquisition of Meralco shares and for general corporate purposes,” JG Summit said.

JG Summit has tapped BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead underwriters.

In late September, the Gokongwei family’s listed holding firm struck a deal to buy a 27-percent stake in Meralco for P72 billion from San Miguel Corp., which is focusing on various investment opportunities like infrastructure projects and oil and gas acquisitions.

Early this week, JG Summit raised P8.8 billion from an overnight sale of 220 million shares. Last month, the company unloaded a portion of its stake in snacks giant Universal Robina Corp. for approximately P12 billion.

JG Summit earlier announced its plan to secure two-thirds of the purchase price through bank loans and bond issuances while the remaining amount would be financed by equities.

The Meralco acquisition allowed JG Summit to partner anew with the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan. In 2011, telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. acquired Sun Cellular operator Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. of the Gokongwei family through a P69.2-billion share swap deal.