Globe Telecom Inc. said Monday it plans to tap the debt market to raise up to P20 billion within a three-year period.
The telecom company, controlled by conglomerate Ayala Corp., said its board of directors approved the filing of a three-year shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission for up to P20 billion in principal amount of debt securities in one or more tranches.
“The purpose of which is to allow Globe within a three-year period to go to the market to offer retail bonds,” Globe corporate communications head Yolanda Crisanto said.
“Currently no decision has been made as to when this offer will take place,” she said.
Globe issued P4 billion worth of seven-year bonds and P3 billion worth of 10-year bonds in July 2013 to fund the acquisition of Bayan Telecommunications Inc., capital expenditures and debt refinancing.
Globe said it would spend about $2 billion over five years to provide the country’s households with fiber optic cables.
The company said it was on track to hit the target of rolling out 2 million home broadband with speed of at least 10 Mbps by 2020 in line with its commitment to improve fixed internet in the Philippines.
Unlike its mobile internet rollout, the strategy of Globe for home broadband is to provide reliable and high speed fixed internet one area at a time.
The company announced that to date, over 260,000 home broadband lines were already deployed.
“We are catching up on the deployment of infrastructure for home broadband, after focusing on mobile for many years,” Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu said.
