ALi hikes Trinoma stake to 58.53%

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) fell short of buying out the Ramos family’s stake in North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp. (NTDCC), the owner and operator of the Trinoma commercial center in Quezon City, the company said yesterday.

The property giant, however, still managed to scale up its shareholdings in NTDCC by 9.24 percent.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, ALI said it has purchased 539,249 common shares and 2.27 million preferred shares of Anglo Philippine Holdings Corp., the investment holding firm led by National Bookstore owner Alfredo Ramos, in NTDCC for P738 million.

ALI was earlier looking to buy out Anglo Philippine Holdings’ entire 15.79 percent stake in NTDCC for P1.26 billion, subject to terms and the right of first refusal of other shareholders of NTDCC.

“What we purchased (P738 million as disclosed) is only a portion of the 15.79 percent. We are still waiting if partners are interested to buy the remaining. If not, we are open to purchase the entire 15.79 percent,” ALI said.

ALI’s ownership in NTDCC will now increase to 58.53 percent from its previous 49.29 percent shareholdings.

Anglo Holdings last year divested its minority stake or 4.5-percent ownership in real estate firm Shang Properties Inc. through a special block sale.

Aside from its remaining NTDCC stake, Anglo Holdings’ remaining investments will be in United Paragon Mining Corp., Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., The Philodrill Corp., MRT Development Corp., MRT Holdings Inc., Brightnote Asset Corp. and Filipinas Energy Corp.