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Manila: San Miguel Corp, the biggest Philippine company by revenue, is in talks with at least 10 banks for a US$2bil loan as it looks to refinance a similar-sized facility maturing in December next year, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The food-to-power conglomerate is looking for a five-year debt and aims to mandate banks and start marketing the deal before year-end, said the people who asked not to be identified as they aren’t authorised to speak publicly.
San Miguel officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The loan discussions come amid the Philippine central bank’s push for the nation’s largest business groups to disclose their foreign-debt levels, an effort to head off potential economic risks tied to such borrowing.
The nation’s largest company is also its most indebted.
San Miguel had total outstanding debt of 1.4 trillion pesos at the end of June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company faces its biggest debt redemptions in 2024, with over US$3bil of the total due next year.
Still, the conglomerate’s ratio of net debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation is six times.
That’s in line with the average ratio for the 30 companies in the main Philippines Stock Exchange PSEi Index, according to Bloomberg-compiled data based on latest filings.
San Miguel in June said the current debt level is a result of a strategic decision to undertake a range of projects, and that its financial position “remains healthy”.
The banks in discussions with San Miguel include Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Bank of China Ltd’s Hong Kong branch, CTBC Bank Co, DBS Bank Ltd, ING Groep, Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Mizuho Bank Ltd, Rabobank Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, the people said.
The group earlier this year raised US$1.33bil, five-year loan at 198.5 basis points over the benchmark Secured Overnight Financing Rate. — Bloomberg
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