FILREIT debuts on PSE

MANILA, Philippines — Filinvest REIT Corp. (FILREIT) made its debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, making it the third REIT to list in the local bourse.

Tycoon Josephine Gotianun-Yap, president of Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI), the sponsor of FILREIT, said institutional and retail investors gobbled up the deal, a testament to investor confidence in the company’s portfolio of assets and its sustainability thrust.

“In the last months, we have navigated the volatility of the capital markets to successfully reach our destination: the Philippine Stock Exchange. We are grateful for the continued trust the investing public has given Filinvest and FILREIT. It is a vote of confidence not only in our company and this new asset class, but also in our country and in what has proven to be the most resilient industry in our economy: the BPO sector. We are excited to grow this financial platform for the benefit of our REIT holders,” Gotianun-Yap said.

FILREIT shares closed at P7.02 per share yesterday, up 0.29 percent from the IPO price of P7 per share.

Its portfolio consists of 17 Grade A office buildings totaling over 300,000 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA), which include sustainability features, of which 16 are in Northgate Cyberzone, a PEZA-accredited Special Economic Zone and IT park in Filinvest City, the first central business district in the country to receive Gold Certification from LEED® v4 for Neighborhood Development.

The IPO raised P12.6 billion, Gotianun-Yap said.

The offering drew demand from international and domestic investors attracted by the yield and growth prospects of the REIT. In particular, there was strong domestic demand from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), accounting for 75 percent.

The IPO involved 1.6 billion common shares, with an over-allotment option of up to 163.4 million common shares.

FILREIT tapped BPI Capital Corp. and UBS AG Singapore Branch as the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the offer.

China Bank Capital Corp. acted as the local lead underwriter while First Metro Investment Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. were the local co-lead underwriters.