Petron gets approval for US$100 million debt sale

Petron Corp. said the Central Bank of the Philippines has approved its application to raise US$100 million via a debt issue, just weeks after concluding a US$500 million global peso bond offer. Petron Corp. President Eric Recto told Reuters there were no plans yet on how the company would raise the new funds, which would help finance the company’s oil and finished petroleum product imports. Petron was the first Philippine corporate issuer of peso global bonds, with its November sale of seven-year debt coming about two months after the government became Asia’s first issuer of local currency global bonds. The government raised US$1 billion from the offer, which other countries in the region are now studying as another possible option to raise funds. (November 19, 2010)