BDO Capital
BDO Unibank’s corporate and investment banking business, partly run through its wholly owned subsidiary BDO Capital, has become the go-to bank for the Philippines’ biggest conglomerates. But the bank is creating new client relationships as well, using its corporate banking relationships to court smaller corporates and introduce them to the capital markets.
It has a number of notable deals under its belt. During the Asiamoney awards period, BDO Unibank was ranked sixth of the top 10 bookrunners for ECM in the Philippines, putting it in competition with the large international banks, according to Dealogic. The bank was also ranked fourth for M&A advisers in the country.
A few deals stand out. BDO Unibank worked on the P742.4 million ($15 million) Fruitas Holdings initial public offering as a joint issue manager, lead underwriter and bookrunner. Fruitas, which is one of the largest food and beverage kiosk operators in the Philippines, found strong support with its offering, which was 1.6 times subscribed at pricing.
BDO Unibank was also a lead manager on Ayala Corp’s $400 million perpetual bond sale in October 2019. The deal was notable not only as a rare Philippine credit in the dollar market, but also for its fixed-for-life payment structure. Despite the challenges of marketing such a deal, it had more than $2.1 billion of orders.
The bank has also demonstrated prowess in the domestic bond market, leading transactions for the Philippines government, as well as for credits including San Miguel, AC Energy and SM Prime Holdings.