Megaworld’s REIT sizzles in PSE debut

MANILA, Philippines — MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust (REIT) of tycoon Andrew Tan’s Megaworld, sizzled during its market debut yesterday.

The stock reached a high of P17.16 per share before closing at P16.70 per share, up 3.73 percent from its offer price of P16.10 per share.

The company raised P15.3 billion including the over-allotment option from the offer, said MREIT president and CEO Kevin Tan.

The listing marks the fifth REIT listing in the country after Ayalas’ AREIT Inc., DoubleDragon’s DDMP REIT, Filinvest Group’s FILREIT and the Gokongwei Group’s RCR REIT.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who paved the way for the REIT environment in the country to flourish, welcomed the latest listing.

“Today, we witness yet another affirmation of the power of REITs in mobilizing funds for our economy’s development and opening doors for small investors to participate in the capital market,” Dominguez said yesterday during the virtual  listing ceremony.

He is optimistic that the company can achieve this given its unmatched track record in property development.

“Its credible reputation provides Megaworld a strong springboard for this public offering,” Dominguez said.

Moving forward, MREIT is planning to strengthen its assets portfolio by injecting additional office and commercial assets from another premier township, Uptown Bonifacio, within the next two years.

MREIT’s initial portfolio consists of 10 prime office buildings covering around 224,431 square meters in Eastwood City, McKinley Hill, and Iloilo Business Park – three of the 27 townships developed by Megaworld.

“So far, we have poured in an estimated P150 billion into these three townships in over a decade that has translated into more than 130,000 jobs in IT and BPO, retail, hotel and tourism, construction, and in various industries that form part of our townships,” Tan said during the ceremony.

He said that after Megaworld injects around 100,000 square meters of prime office assets from Eastwood City, McKinley Hill, and Iloilo Business Park by end of 2022, it will also be putting in some of its prime office and commercial assets in Uptown Bonifacio into MREIT by 2023.

This year alone, Uptown Bonifacio has close to 331,300 sqm of completed office and commercial projects. Another 70,000 square meters of prime office spaces are set to be completed in three years.

“These prime office and commercial assets can be potentially injected into MREIT. With BGC having the highest office rental rates among major business districts in the country, these fresh assets can truly bulk up MREIT’s portfolio, increase its rental revenues, and of course, grow the distribution yields for our investors,” Tan said.