EDC retail bond sale nets 20% more than expected

In the Philippines, Lopez-owned Energy Development Corp. raised $257 million from its first retail bond offering. The offering is $43 million more than originally planned because of substantial demand from both retail and institutional investors. In addition, the bonds were fully taken up ahead of the original closing date of November 26. The company said it would use the proceeds from to partially refinance and/or re-denominate its outstanding foreign currency denominated loans and otherwise for general corporate purposes.