Philippines

A number of Asian borrowers are choosing to prepay their syndicated loans for various reasons, including a bearish outlook on growth. Their actions are compounding the woes of loan syndications bankers, who are already battling low deal activity, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp, the local arm of oil and gas conglomerate Royal Dutch Shell, has started sounding out investors for its upcoming Ps29.7bn ($614.9m) IPO. It is coming at a time when the country’s equities market and currency have been volatile, but early signs suggest the issuer is set to defy the challenges. Jonathan Breen reports.

The conglomerate ownership of the largest banks in the Philippines is coming under greater scrutiny as the regulator and even the International Monetary Fund express concern. Increased foreign ownership is one way to reduce the risk, but that strategy presents its own challenges. Peter McGill reports.

The Philippine market regulator has given the go ahead to the local arm of oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell to list in the country.

The Philippines’ largest lender BDO Unibank is planning a rights issue of up to Ps60bn ($1.2bn) in an attempt to boost its capital base.

Mercuria Asia Group Holdings and Mercuria Energy Trading are gauging interest from lenders for a joint loan of $900m, according to bankers.

The southeast Asian businesses of Standard Chartered have come into focus recently, with the bank naming new CEOs for its Thailand and Philippine offices.

Standard Chartered has made a pair of top-level appointments in southeast Asia, naming the first local CEOs for its Thailand and Philippines offices.

A secondary share sale in Filipino conglomerate GT Capital Holdings fetched Ps8.03bn ($172.14m) on Wednesday, with a shareholder cashing in just as the stock vaulted to a record high.

Philippine property conglomerate SM Prime Holdings is planning to raise as much as $1bn with an IPO of a real estate investment trust (Reit).

Philippine company Aboitiz Equity Ventures jumped at a chance to sell a Ps4.7bn ($100.0m) block of shares on Tuesday, taking advantage of a share price that is up nearly 30% year-to-date.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp, the local arm of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell in the Philippines, filed for an IPO on Monday to raise up to Ps29.7bn ($632.1m), according to bankers.