SMC Global completes $300-M bond offering

BUSINESS MIRROR

THURSDAY, 03 FEBRUARY 2011 19:52 PAUL ANTHONY A. ISLA / REPORTER

CONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. (SMC) said on Thursday its subsidiary SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. has closed its $300-million bond offering.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMC said the five-year bond issuance was pegged at 7-percent completed on January 28 and was in compliance to Regulation S of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

SMC appointed ANZ, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank as joint bookrunners and joint lead managers.

Proceeds of the bond issue will be used to fund investments in power-related assets; the prepayment of obligations of San Miguel Energy Corp. (Smec), Strategic Power Development Corp. and South Premiere Power Corp. to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. under their respective independent power producer contracts administration agreements; and fund general corporate purposes.

The bond issue has been listed in the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.

SMC clarified that SMC Global does not intend to register any securities subject of the proposed bond issue under the US Securities Act and the Philippine Securities Regulation Code and that no offering of securities will be made in the US, the Philippines or in any other jurisdiction where such offering is restricted or prohibited.

To date, Smec is considered to hold the largest power-capacity portfolio accounting for 28.1 percent of the Luzon grid and 21.4 percent of the national grid, according to a report from the Department of Energy in July.

San Miguel’s portfolio includes the 620-megawatt (MW) Limay combined cycle power plant and manages the contracted capacities of the 1,000-MW Sual coal-fired power plant, 345-MW San Roque multipurpose hydro plant and the 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas power plant.