Meralco, First Metro forge P5-B notes facility deal

To finance its corporate requirements and debt obligations, power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Monday said it entered into a P5-billion notes facility agreement with First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. Meralco said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange that First Metro will serve as the arranger and book runner of the notes facility. The fixed-rate notes — due 2015 and 2016 — will be issued on Dec. 21, Meralco said. In November, Meralco also raised some P4.8-billion worth of fixed-rate notes facility to partly fund its capital expenses. Also, in December the power utility signed a P5.5-billion fixed-and-floating-rate notes facility agreement with 13 institutional lenders for its funding requirements. Meralco chief finance officer Betty Sy-Yap said in October that lower interest rates would give the power company better opportunities to raise funds. “Interest rates are very low. There’s so much liquidity in the banking system today," Sy-Yap said. The utility firm spent over P7 billion for capital expenditures this year to ensure the reliability of its system. At present, Meralco has over 4.5 million customers. Its principal owners include Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., San Miguel Corp., and First Philippine Holdings Corp. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV