AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) has strengthened its grip on real estate logistics and industrial estate developer Prime Orion Philippines, Inc. (POPI) via an P800-million share purchase through Laguna Technopark, Inc. (LTI).
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, the listed property giant said its executive committee has approved the acquisition of a 20% equity interest in LTI held by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. This is equivalent to 8,051 common shares valued at a total of P800 million.
ALI will then exchange the 20% equity interest in LTI for additional shares of stock in POPI consisting of 323.89 million common shares.
“This will strengthen POPI’s vision to be the leading real estate logistics and industrial estate developer and operator in the Philippines,” the company said.
ALI first acquired the Tutuban Center operator in 2015, with an initial stake of 51.36%. The company then increased its interest to 54.91%, further hiking its direct ownership to 63.9% in March 2018.
Following ALI’s acquisition, it has been positioning POPI to become a leading property logistics player in the country. It was able to acquire a majority stake in LTI, which manages the 460-hectare Laguna Technopark in Santa Rosa as well as a 135-hectare Cavite Technopark in the municipality of Naic.
POPI recently allotted P1 billion to develop a logistics and warehousing facility in Laguna Technopark. The Standard Factory Building (SFB) will house a total leasable area of more than 60,000 square meters (sq.m.) divided into 40 units sized 1,200 to 1,500 sq.m. each.
The company expects to complete the warehouse by October 2020, but it will be available for lease to non-PEZA locators starting on May this year.
POPI also has two industrial parks in the pipeline, with the first located in Cagayan de Oro near the Laguindingan airport. The company will offer 42 parcels of land with cuts of 7,000 sq.m. each. The second industrial park will be in Central Luzon.
Meanwhile, the company is also in the process of rehabilitating Tutuban Center. Since the Ayala group’s entry, POPI has expanded Tutuban’s gross leasable area to 53,000 sq.m., while also introducing new retail and wholesale concepts.
POPI’s net income attributable to the parent soared 122% to P189.47 million in the first nine months of 2018, following a 328% surge in revenues to P1.94 billion.
For ALI, attributable profit climbed 17% to P20.78 billion in the nine-month period, as gross revenues went up 21% to P119.68 billion.
Shares in ALI shed 0.22% or 10 centavos to close at P44.85 each on Monday, while shares in POPI jumped 3.83% or 10 centavos to close at P2.71 apiece. — Arra B. Francia
