AREIT acquires The 30th for P5.1 billion

MANILA, Philippines  — AREIT Inc., the country’s first real estate investment trust listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange,  is acquiring The 30th, a 76,000 square meter commercial development in Pasig City for P5.1 billion.

“The acquisition of The 30th will allow AREIT to increase its total portfolio of assets from 170,000 to 246,000 square meters of gross leasable area,” the company said.

The 30th, a mall and office space, along Meralco Avenue in Pasig, is a commercial development that was planned and developed by Ayala Land and completed in 2017. The office building is fully occupied predominantly by BPO companies.

It includes an amenity retail podium which will be operated and leased by Ayala Land from AREIT.

Simultaneous to the acquisition of the building by ALI will assign the long-term land lease to AREIT.

AREIT, in turn, will lease office spaces to tenants, and the retail podium to Ayala Land under a fixed lease as operator of the retail spaces.

ALI is the sponsor of AREIT Inc. and currently owns 54 percent of the company.

The acquisition will be funded through debt.

At present, AREIT is debt-free, allowing it to acquire assets that are yield accretive through leverage. This demonstrates AREIT’s ability to grow its portfolio and add value to its shareholders while its sponsor ALI can recycle the capital for its real estate projects in the Philippines.