Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corporation has raised P13.5 billion (US$301 million) from the sale of preferred shares, with proceeds to be used to prepay debt to expand its infrastructure and power portfolios.

The company stated in its report to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that it has sold all of its 20 million share-base offer at P500 and only 7 million of its original 10 million preferred class b series 2 shares. The offering commenced on October 23 and finished on October 29.

The preferred shares carry a dividend rate of 5.575% per year. The shares will be issued on Nov. 5th.

BPI Capital Corp. has acted as the issue manager and lead underwriter while BPI Capital, BDO Capital Corp. and First Metro Investments Corp. have acted as the joint lead underwriters for the offering.

The firm's total debt amounts to about P12.95 billion (US$288.8 million) and creditors include Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and BDO Unibank. Debts mature between October 2014 and November 2019.

Over the past two years Ayala Corporation has invested in the power generation and transport infrastructure sectors, with a goal of building a portfolio that could be a source of predictable earnings and cash flow over the medium to long term.

The team formed by Ayala Corporation, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte Ltd signed, on 2 Oct., with the Philippine government the concession agreement for the $1.45-billion Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT1) Cavite extension project

Ayala Corporation have recently registered to bid for the P122.8 billion (US$2.8 billion) Laguna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike PPP project. The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operate and maintenance (DBFOM) basis for a period of 37 years.

In late July the conglomerate, together with a subsidiary of Aboitiz Land, Inc., submitted the highest complying bid for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway PPP project. The P35.42-billion (US$790 million) PPP project involves the finance, design, construct, operate and maintain of the new road.