AUB eyes P5 B from note issuance

MANILA, Philippines - Asia United Bank (AUB) is raising P5 billion from the issuance of unsecured subordinated notes to beef up its capital base.

AUB is the banking arm of Republic Biscuit Corp. (Rebisco).

AUB is set to issue the Tier 2 notes with a maturity of 10 years to comply with the capitalization requirement of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in one or two tranches within one year.

The offer period running from Nov. 4 to 16 could be shortened by AUB. The issue price is at 100 percent of the face value of the notes. The issue date is on Nov. 25.

The indicative yield ranges from 5.5 percent to 5.875 percent with the final rate to be announced at the end of the offer period. The minimum investment amount is P500,000 with additional  increments of P50,000.

AUB has tapped BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG Manila Branch as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners. Multinational Investment Bancorporation would serve as selling agent while AUB would act as a limited selling agent.

AUB president Abraham Co said proceeds of the fund raising activity through the issuance of Tier 2 unsecured subordinated notes would strengthen the bank’s capital adequacy based on the BSP requirements.

“By continuously embarking on ways to redefine our value proposition to our clients, we are staying a step ahead in innovation and technology, as well as reaching out to more customers who are starting to reap the benefits of our investment in expanding our network and in product offerings,” Co said.