Discovery Capital lands BDO credit line to fund nationwide lending push

What's the deal? Discovery Capital Finance Corp. (DCFC)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has signed a credit facility agreement with BDO Unibank, Inc.Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Philippines' largest universal bank. The debt line gives the non-bank lender fresh funding capacity to expand across Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

What does Discovery do? It is a full-service nationwide lender that runs a fully digitised platform covering customer origination, algorithmic credit underwriting, and back-end loan administration. That automation lets it turn loans around quickly while keeping its credit standards, the company says.

What's the money for? Discovery plans to deepen its presence in regional growth areas and open satellite offices to reach more communities. It is projected to add 10 offices nationwide by 2027 and expand into real estate loan products.

Why now? The deal pairs BDO's institutional balance sheet with Discovery's lending framework to route capital into underserved provincial markets. Small and medium enterprises make up over 99% of established businesses in the Philippines, yet many in provincial regions struggle to access credit.

The endgame: "Through this partnership with the country's number one bank, we can further cater to and expand our market throughout the country," said Diosdado C. Salang, Jr., president and chief executive officer. He said the line lets Discovery "directly address the capital needs of local businesses."

The signal: Tapping a tier-one bank for debt, rather than equity, lets a fast-growing non-bank lender scale its loan book without diluting ownership. It also marks a pattern of established banks channelling liquidity through nimbler, tech-driven lenders to reach markets they don't serve directly.

Read more: Adobo Magazine

Image credit: Generated with Gemini