SEC clears maiden share sales of VistaREIT, Raslag

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the planned initial public offerings of two companies: VistaREIT Inc. and Raslag Corp.

In a statement, the SEC said it cleared the two upcoming fundraising activities during the commission’s en banc meeting on Thursday. There have been five IPOs and four private placements in the stock market so far this year.

VistaREIT is a real estate investment trust (REIT) sponsored by Villar-led companies, namely Masterpiece Asia Properties Inc., Manuela Corp., Vista Residences Inc., Crown Asia Properties Inc., and Communities Pampanga Inc.

The REIT company will offer up to 3.3 billion common shares at an offer price of up to P2.50 each, with an option to sell up to 333.8 million additional common shares if there’s strong investor demand.

Assuming the overallotment option is fully exercised, VistaREIT will net P8.79 billion from the offer. The REIT company’s sponsors will receive all the proceeds, which must be reinvested in the Philippines.

VistaREIT expects to conduct the IPO from May 10 to 16 and debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 26

VistaREIT’s portfolio currently includes 10 community malls and two office buildings with a gross leasable area of 256,403.95 square meters. The company’s malls are located in Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Cebu, while its office buildings are in Taguig and Bacoor, Cavite.

Income from these property assets must be distributed to shareholders as dividends.

Raslag IPO

Meanwhile, domestic renewable energy developer Raslag will sell 350 million common shares priced at up to P2 each. The offer includes an overallotment option of up to 52.5 million common shares to be sold by selling shareholder J Ten Equities Inc.

The company expects to net P648.08 million from the offer, while the selling shareholder will receive the proceeds from the exercise of the overallotment option, which could reach up to P105 million.

Proceeds from the offer will be used to finance the company’s solar projects, namely RASLAG-4, a 35.1-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic plant in Magalang, Pampanga, and RASLAG-5, with an approximate capacity of 60MW.

The offer period for Raslag’s shares is set to run from May 24 to 30, in time for their listing on June 6. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral