The Republic of the Philippines ( RoP ) bucked the turmoil in the global credit market when it priced on January 20 its first offshore bond offering in 2026, amounting to US$2.75 billion, in three tranches. The sovereign managed to navigate the volatile market environment that forced a Chinese issuer, China Oil and Gas Group, to pull a benchmark-size US dollar bond transaction even after announcing the final price guidance.

The SEC-registered deal comprised a 5.5-year bond amounting to US$500 million, which was priced at 99.530% with a coupon of 4.25% to offer a yield of 4.347%. This is equivalent to a spread of 50bp over the US treasuries or 20bp tighter than the initial price guidance of 70bp area.

The second tranche is for 10 years amounting to US$1.5 billion, which was priced at 99.325% with a coupon of 5% and a re-offer yield of 5.087%. This represented a spread of 80bp over the US treasuries, which was also 20bp inside of the initial marketing range of 100bp area.

The third tranche is for 25 years amounting to US$750 million, which was priced at par with a similar coupon and re-offer yield of 5.75%.

The deal garnered a combined order book of US$5.95 billion, with the 5.5-year offering attracting a total demand of over US$950 million from 61 accounts. In terms of geographical distribution, 78% of the bond was allocated in Asia, 12% in the US, and 10% in EMEA. By type of investors, banks and other financial institutions accounted for 66%; asset and fund managers 31%; insurance companies, pension funds, central banks and official institutions 2%; and private banks and other investors 1%.

The 10-year bond generated an order book of US$3.4 billion from 153 accounts, with 42% of the issuance sold in the US, 33% in Asia, and 25% in EMEA. Asset and fund managers drove the demand for this tranche as they took 67% of the paper; banks and other financial institutions accounted for 21%, insurance companies, pension funds, central banks and official institutions 10%; and private banks and other investors 2%.

The 25-year tranche attracted a total demand of US$1.6 billion from 87 accounts, with 55% of the bond allocated in the US, 36% in Asia and 9% in EMEA. The bulk of the bond was taken by asset and fund managers with 73%, while insurance companies and pension funds took 15%, banks and other financial institutions 11%, and private banks and other investors 1%.  

Commenting on the deal, finance secretary Frederick Go says the transaction underscores the sovereign’s steadfast dedication to sound fiscal policy and sustainable development. “We are confident that our policy direction and reform agenda will continue to resonate with the global investment community and support a successful outcome for this offering,” he adds.

The proceeds are intended for general budget financing. BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered and UBS were the joint bookrunners and lead managers for the transaction.

Another Asian issuer also managed to overcome the market turmoil with Woori Bank printing a dual-tranche deal totaling US$600 million in sustainability format. The issuance is equally split at US$300 million each for three-year floating rate notes and five-year fixed rate notes, attracting a healthy order book of US$3.1 billion. The deal was arranged by HSBC, J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities, Mizuho, Natixis and Wells Fargo acting as joint bookrunners.

China Oil and Gas, rated Ba3 by Moody’s Ratings and BB by S&P Global Ratings, decided not to go ahead with its own deal – which included a concurrent tender offer – and pulled it after the final price guidance was announced at 7% from the initial guidance of 7.25% area. This came as the three non-call two-year offering has attracted an order book amounting to over US$750 million. HSBC, Morgan Stanley and UBS were the joint global coordinators, bookrunners and lead managers for the transaction.