Author: Business News Asia

SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) listed PHP10 billion worth of fixed rate bonds with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) as part of a program to refinance its debts. The bonds were priced to yield 3.3613% per annum. Issued on October 2, 2020, these bonds will mature on April 2, 2024. BDO Capital, China Bank Capital, BPI Capital, First Metro Investment Corp (FMIC) and Security Bank Capital were named as Joint Lead Underwriters. The PHP10 billion bonds are the first issuance out of SMIC’s PHP30 billion debt program under a shelf registration of three years. SM Investments Corporation is a…

NOW Corporation and Viettel Business Solutions Corporation (a member of Viettel Group) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to develop market opportunities and to provide Information Communication and Technology products and services in the Philippines. The Viettel Group (“Viettel”) was established in 1989 and is the largest telecom player in Vietnam. Viettel is present in 11 countries including Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia (Asia), Burundi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Cameroun (Africa), and Peru, Haiti (America). Viettel Business Solutions is Viettel’s ICT arm in charge of developing and implementing ICT projects in Vietnam and in its overseas market where it operates. It has demonstrated…

Listed sugar and ethanol producer Roxas Holdings, Inc. (RHI) today announced the closing of its asset sale transaction with Universal Robina Corporation (URC). The transaction involved the sale of RHI’s sugar mill and ethanol plant in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental and its investment properties, consisting of shares in Najalin Agri- Ventures, Inc. (NAVI), to URC. “With this development, RHI will be able to focus its resources on Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc. (CADPI) to meet the discerning sugar requirements of our clients and boost the operations of our ethanol facility, San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc. (SCBI),” Chairman Pedro Roxas said.…

The Yuchengco Group of Companies’ (YGC) PetroWind Energy Inc. (PWEI) was recognized as one of Top Community Care Companies in the 2020 Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Awards (ACES) based in Kuala Lumpur. ACES Awards honor individuals and firms in Asia for corporate leadership and corporate social responsibility under several categories – sustainability, green initiative, green innovation, and community care, among others. ACES described PWEI as among those Asian companies who “have enriched the communities through various outreach initiatives and which epitomize the mission and values of an organization that…demonstrate exemplary active citizenship in promoting the wellbeing of society at…

Airwallex today announced that the company has closed its extended Series D fundraising with an additional $40 million from new and existing investors. This builds on Airwallex’s US$160M Series D round announced in April 2020 , bringing its total Series D funding to US$200M and total equity funding raised to date to over US$400M. The additional funds raised will enable Airwallex to invest in the continual build out of its product suite, to strengthen its existing footprint in key regions such as Asia Pacific and UK/Europe, and to expand its global payment coverage to include additional regions such as the…

Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“MIPL” or the “Sponsor”) and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (“MNACT”) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a unit sale and purchase agreement to co-invest in an office building located at 119, Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul known as “The Pinnacle Gangnam” (the “Property”), at an agreed property value of KRW 452 billion (S$528.4 million)1 (the “Acquisition”). Under the agreement, MIPL will hold a 49.95% interest in IGIS Qualified Investment Type Private Placement Real Estate Investment Trust No. 6 (the “Target REF”) which beneficially owns the Property2, while MNACT will hold a 50.0% interest; with…

CEBU CITY – The Great Cebu Sale (GCS) 2020, Cebu’s first ever industry-wide virtual sale event, has noted a growing online traffic, as organizers urged consumers to take advantage of the best deals they could get from their favorite merchants. Camille Aldeguer, the chairperson of GCS, shared that for the first week of the virtual sale, which started on Sept. 15, they have recorded over 3,000 visitors on the GCS’s official website www.thegreatcebusale.com. “We expect this to increase moving forward especially if more people will be aware that some of Cebu’s famous brands are offering great deals and promos this…

Listed firm First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH) has agreed to purchase from Brightnote Assets Corporation 1,384,127 common shares and 2,572,726 preferred shares in First Batangas Hotel Corporation (FBHC) for a total consideration of Eleven Million Four Hundred Seventy Four Thousand Eight Hundred Seventy Three and 70/100 Pesos (Php11,474,873.70) . After the sale, FPH’s 40.5% current stake will increase to 57.7%, making FBHC a subsidiary. FBHC owns a hotel situated in First Philippine Industrial Park, also an FPH subsidiary. Meanwhile, Puregold’s Board has approved the company’s plan to undertake Corporate Notes Issuance of up to P12B as an opportunistic strategy to…

SyncDog Inc, an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) for next generation mobile security and data loss prevention, today announced its partnership with Halodata, a data security solutions distributor, to expand access to SyncDog’s Secure.Systems solution within Singapore and the Southeast Asian commercial market. This partnership provides SyncDog with the opportunity to empower more organizations to tap into the flexibility of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) technology, enabling mobile workers to conduct business operations efficiently and securely from wherever they are. “Halodata is thrilled to partner with SyncDog to expand access to their advanced mobile security…

Philippine-listed Macay Holdings Inc, the parent company of RC Cola’s Philippine bottler ARC Refreshments Corporation, has completed its acquisition of Artemisplus Express Inc, operator of Kitchen City. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Thursday, Macay said it has acquired 100 per cent voting and controlling interest in Kitchen City, the leading canteen concessionaire in the Philippines. The acquisition of Kitchen City will be Macay’s first foray into the food service business. “The acquisition will bring to fruition Macay’s vision to expand its business portfolio to other consumer products and services in the Philippines and in other Asian countries,”…

Philippine-listed Axelum Resources Corp. (PSE: AXLM), the country’s largest fully-integrated manufacturer and exporter of world-class premium coconut products, is looking to cap off the year on a high note. “Despite the numerous challenges brought about by this on-going pandemic, we continue to see improving performance and have returned to year-on-year revenue growth. We are confident of sustaining this uptrend through the end of the year and a sharp rebound in 2021,” stated Henry J. Raperoga, President and Chief Operating Officer of Axelum Resources Corp. Axelum has commissioned its state-of-the-art pressed coconut water processing plant and has started producing this high-demand…

MerryMart Consumer Corp’s wholly-owned subsidiary MerryMart Grocery Centers Inc has signed an agreement with FoodPanda Philippines to operate and pioneer the ‘dark grocery’ store concept in the Philippines with the aim of becoming the first 15-minute grocery delivery service in the country. PandaMart is FoodPanda’s instant grocery delivery service, which covers convenience grocery goods, personal care essentials, and other fast-moving consumer goods. ‘Dark groceries’ are branches that will generally be invisible and will solely cater to online deliveries within the vicinity. The first two ‘dark grocery’ stores are set to start operations in Makati City and Manila City this October…

Philippine-listed Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue the second tranche of fixed-rate retail bonds (the “Second Tranche Bonds”) from its P30 billion shelf registration program, which was registered with the SEC on June 3, 2019. The Second Tranche Bonds will consist of a primary offering of fixed-rate retail bonds up to P5 billion in aggregate principal amount, with an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion. The Second Tranche Bonds are expected to be offered to the general public during the fourth quarter of 2020, or at a later…

Keppel Capital Holdings Pte. Ltd. (Keppel Capital), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel Capital Alternative Asset Pte. Ltd. (Keppel Capital Alternative Asset), has raised more than half of its target commitments for its US$500 million Keppel Education Asset Fund (the Fund), a closed-end private equity fund that will focus on the fast-growing private education sector in Asia Pacific. The Fund is managed by Keppel Capital Alternative Asset and the investors in the Fund and its parallel vehicle include a sovereign wealth fund, an endowment fund and a family office. As its first real estate investment, the Fund has acquired a 70%…

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) has through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Keppel AmFELS and Keppel Shipyard, clinched contracts worth approximately S$200millioncombined. In the US, Keppel AmFELS will be constructing a high-specification Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) for Manson Construction Co. The TSHD will be the first dredger built at Keppel AmFELS’ yard in Brownsville, Texas. When completed, the dredger will have a hopper capacity of 15,000 cubic yards and will operate primarily in the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast of the United States. It will be Jones Act Compliant and built to the requirements of the classification society, American…

Representatives of Philippine Stock Exchange-listed Nickel Asia Corporation (PSE:NIKL), the Philippines’ top nickel ore producer with a growing interest in renewable energy development, is moving up north to explore Ilocos Norte’s investment potentials. In a meeting held at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall on Wednesday, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau along with the provincial government of Ilocos Norte’s economic group presented the province’s investment potentials, particularly on mining industry which is now being considered to help the local economy recover from the pandemic. For years, Ilocos Norte has been conservative in terms of mining but as the Philippine government promotes…

South Korea’s most significant event for startups and small businesses – COMEUP 2020 (www.kcomeup.com) will be held from November 19 to 21, 2020. The event will be livestreamed to tens of thousands of viewers globally. The objective of the COMEUP 2020 event, organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), is to support startups expand globally. The annual event has started accepting applications from startups for the opportunity to virtually present their pitches. Startups are invited to use this opportunity to connect with leading investors, companies and government agencies from South Korea and other countries, as well use this…

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp (MPTC), a subsidiary of Philippine-listed infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investment Corporation (PSE: MPI), is set to begin today the construction of two new segments of the CAVITEX C5 Link Expressway. The project is worth P8.8 billion. Segment 2, which has a project cost of P7 billion, is a 1.9-kilometer, 2×3 lane expressway that will run from R-1 Expressway to Sucat Interchange. The P1.8-billion Segment 3A-2, on the other hand, is a 1.6-km, 2×3 lane expressway that will run from Merville to RSG Subdivision in Parañaque. The CAVITEX C5 Link Expressway is a 7.70-km expressway from CAVITEX…

Indonesian beauty-tech startup Social Bella announced today that it has raised $58 million in a Series E funding round backed by Singapore-headquartered Temasek, Pavilion Capital, and Jungle Ventures. The investment comes amid turbulence within the overall business environment due to the current coronavirus pandemic, the company said. The latest funding round will further boost the company’s growth in Indonesia’s beauty and personal care market, which, according to Euromonitor, is expected to grow to US$8.5 billion by 2022. With the continued support from its investors, Social Bella is well-positioned to unlock that growth potential with its sustainable business model and comprehensive…

MANILA, Philippines ‐ Listed property giant Megaworld, the country’s largest developer of integrated urban townships, is boosting its e‐commerce facilities to fast track the recovery of its commercial and hotel businesses, which have been greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In the coming weeks, the company is set to roll out digital platforms that are aimed at ‘enhancing customer experience’ under the so‐called ‘new reality.’ Megaworld Hotels, for example, is launching its ‘E‐CONCIERGE’, a mobile application that allows guests to have contactless interaction with hotel staff from check‐in to check‐out, including virtual ordering of food from various Food & Beverage…