THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday approved the P15- billion blue bond offering of Maynilad Water Services Inc., the concessionaire of the west zone of Metro Manila. Maynilad is the first company to issue blue bonds under the guidelines released by the SEC in 2023.
Maynilad is the first company to issue blue bonds under the SEC’s blue bond guidelines released in 2023.
Based on the registration statement filed with the SEC, Maynilad will issue up to P12 billion of fixed-rate, peso-denominated blue bonds, with an oversubscription option for another P3 billion, subject to the company’s compliance with certain remaining requirements.
The water utility firm said it would use the proceeds from the fund-raising activity to finance sustainable water and wastewater management projects, which are aligned with the SEC’s guidelines on eligible projects for blue bonds issuance in the country.
Blue bonds refer to a subset of green bonds and sukuk whose proceeds will exclusively be used to finance or refinance new and/or existing eligible blue projects and activities.
Eligible blue projects are classified into several categories, including sustainable fisheries management, sustainable aquaculture, wastewater management and marine and offshore renewable energy that do not harm marine ecosystems, among others.
The bonds will be offered at face value from May 27 to 31, in time for listing at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on June 7, according to the latest timetable submitted to the SEC.
Maynilad tapped BPI Capital Corp. as the sole issue manager for the offer.
BPI Capital will also act as joint lead underwriter and joint bookrunner, together with BDO Capital & Investment Corp., First Metro Investment Corp. and East West Banking Corp.
The water utility firm is embarking on a P31-billion capital investment in 2024.
It earmarked P11.40 billion for wastewater management projects, including the construction of new sewage treatment plants (STP) and laying of new sewer lines this year.
It is also spending P8.72 billion on new water projects to enable the company to tap alternate raw water sources and P6.27 billion for operations support projects.
More than P4 billion will be dedicated to the company’s non-revenue water reduction program and service expansion initiatives.
The rest of the 2024 capex will be used for its customer service and information infrastructure, among other projects.
