BDO raises $500M from global market comeback
Sy family-led BDO Unibank Inc. locked in $500 million in fresh funding to support its lending operations, as its recent senior notes issuance received strong interest from global investors.
The five-year fixed rate senior notes, under its medium term note program, saw a blockbuster traction from investors. It was oversubscribed by 3.2 times, with orders hitting about $1.6 billion.
The coupon rate of the senior notes is set at 4.375 percent a year. Settlement is targeted by Dec. 3.
The bank said the fresh funds would back BDO’s growing lending business, as well as support its general corporate purposes.
It tapped Standard Chartered Bank as the sole global coordinator for the transaction. Standard Chartered Bank, MUFG, and Wells Fargo Securities acted as joint bookrunners and joint lead managers.
Earlier this week, the company told the Philippine Stock Exchange that it had mandated some banks to check investor demand for its planned issuance of US dollar-denominated Regulation S, with maturity in five years.
Last 2022, the firm raised $100 million from its maiden issuance of blue bonds through an investment from the International Finance Corp.
Even with the COVID-19 pandemic rampaging across the world, BDO also raised $600 million from the offshore bond market in July 2020.
Meanwhile, BDO realized a profit growth in the first three months of 2025 as its lending operations expanded, reaching P3.5 trillion. Its earnings went up 4 percent to P63.1 billion, its highest nine-month figure.
