DM Wenceslao revives IPO plan, seeks P15.5 B

MANILA, Philippines — D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc. (DMWAI) has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission an application for a P15.5 billion initial public offering, reviving its plan to debut in the Philippine stock market.

DMWAI will offer up to 679.2 million shares, or about 20 percent of the company’s total issued shares to raise funds for further expansion of its real estate development through a mix of commercial and residential projects in Aseana City.

The company tapped BPI Capital and Maybank as the joint global coordinators and Bookrunners for the IPO.

Last year, DMWAI chairman and president Delfin J. Wenceslao Jr. told The STAR the public offering would proceed this year.

DMWAI is the master developer and primary owner of Aseana City, one of the largest and fastest growing mixed-use business districts in the Manila Bay Area.

In 2017, Colliers International said the development of mixed-use communities across Metro Manila is becoming more popular as these projects integrate the live-work-play-shop lifestyle. The reclaimed land in the Manila Bay area is a feasible option for mixed-use projects as shown by the growing popularity of D.M. Wenceslao’s Aseana City.

Data from Colliers showed that the value of reclaimed land in the Manila Bay area now ranges from P150,000 to P250,000 per square meter (net of value-added tax), The value has been growing by an average of 24 percent annually over the past 10 years.

In addition to its property development business, DMWAI is also one of a few AAAA construction companies in the Philippines which reflects its stability and capacity to undertake large scale infrastructure and construction projects.

Based on the company’s financial statements, around 50 percent of its revenues come from the lease of office and commercial space and land rentals.

The company had planned to list in the market as early as 2015 but decided to defer it because of prevailing market conditions.

DMWAI managed to double its net income to P1.56 billion in 2017.