MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved its proposed blue bond issuance.

The SEC confirmed Maynilad’s proposal to issue Series A Blue Bonds due 2029 and Series B Blue Bonds due 2034, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

This complies with the ASEAN Green Bond Standards, as well as SEC Memorandum Circular No. 12 from 2018 and SEC Memorandum Circular No. 15 from 2023.

“This is the first Blue Bond public offering in the Philippines,” the company said.

Maynilad is proposing to offer up to P12 billion of fixed rate with an oversubscription option of up to P3 billion, subject to the company’s compliance with certain remaining requirements.

The company is targeting to offer the blue bonds from May 27 to May 31 and issue and list on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on June 7.

Net proceeds from the offer are intended to finance sustainable water and wastewater management projects, according to the company.

The SEC said 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.

Maynilad’s blue bonds have been rated “PRS Aaa” with a stable outlook by the Philippine Rating Services Corp.

The company has 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.

Maynilad serves the cities of Manila, except San Andres and Sta. Ana. It also operates in Quezon City, Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon. It also supplies the cities of Cavite, Bacoor, and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario, all in Cavite province.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

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