Ayala Land gets PCC nod for buyout of Aboitiz stake in Cebu firm

AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) has received approval from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to acquire full ownership of Cebu District Property Enterprise, Inc. (CDPEI), the operator of the Gatewalk Central mixed-use estate in Cebu.

ALI received the certificate of approval on Nov. 4, the listed property developer said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Under the transaction, ALI is acquiring full control of CDPEI after buying the 50% equity interest held by Aboitiz Land, Inc. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) for P1.81 billion.

“Following the PCC’s approval and the satisfaction of the closing conditions, Aboitiz Land, AEV, and ALI signed the deed of assignment of shares to effect the transfer of shares,” ALI said.

Incorporated in 2014, CDPEI is the developer of the 17.5-hectare Gatewalk Central mixed-use property in Mandaue City.

“This acquisition will consolidate ALI’s ownership of CDPEI, the developer of Gatewalk Central.

ALI envisions Gatewalk Central to be one of its key Cebu estates that will contribute to ALI’s growing presence in the Visayas region, the company said.

The property will feature a four-storey mall for various retail, food, and entertainment establishments; a nine-storey business process outsourcing tower; a transit terminal; and two basement levels.

AYALALAND LOGISTICS PROFITMeanwhile, ALI subsidiary Ayala-Land Logistics Holdings Corp. (ALLHC) said in a separate regulatory filing that its nine-month net income rose by 74.6% to P618 million from P354 million a year ago on higher revenues from its leasing business.

January-to-September consolidated revenue rose by 90.5% to P4 billion from P2.1 billion last year, ALLHC said. The company has yet to disclose its third-quarter results.

Revenue from industrial lot sales reached P2.6 billion on lots sold at Laguindingan Technopark in Misamis Oriental, along with higher completion rates for developing industrial estates.

The leasing businesses generated P1.2 billion in revenue led by its warehouse, cold storage, and commercial leasing operations.

Warehouse leasing revenue grew by 11% to P566 million from P510 million last year due to the increase in leasable area and higher occupancy.

Commercial leasing revenues improved by 2.4% to P680 million from P664 million a year ago due to higher mall occupancies.

Cold storage revenues increased by 18.6% to P153 million from P129 million due to the addition of the ALogis Artico Santo Tomas facility in Batangas.

“Our investments in leasing business segments have strengthened and diversified our industrial real estate portfolio. We look to deliver on our healthy pipeline of leasable properties which will increase our recurring revenue and enable us to establish a stronger foothold in the real estate logistics industry,” ALLHC President and Chief Executive Officer Robert S. Lao said.

For the fourth quarter, ALLHC expects to finish the first phase of its ALogis Mabalacat warehouse facility as well as its ALogis Artico Mabalacat cold storage in Pampanga, which will add 7,700 square meters of gross leasable area and 5,000 cold pallet positions, respectively. 

Construction of the second phase of ALogis Mabalacat is also in full swing, according to the company.

Once finished, it will add 18,000 square meters of warehouse inventory to the company’s portfolio.

On Tuesday, ALI shares rose by 4.55% or P1.50 to P34.50 apiece, while AEV stocks improved by 0.57% or 20 centavos to P35.40 per share, and ALLHC stocks gained by 5.5% or 11 centavos to P2.11 each. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave