AREIT acquires P23 billion assets from Ayala Land

MANILA, Philippines — AREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust of the Ayala Group, will acquire P23 billion worth of prime commercial properties from its sponsor Ayala Land Inc.

This is alongside the purchase of the P6.77 billion industrial land from Buendia Christiana Holdings Corp. (BCHC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ACEN Corp.,  as AREIT disclosed earlier.

The planned infusions by ALI and BCHC will bring AREIT’s assets under management (AUM) to P117 billion and its gross leasable building area to more than one million square meters. Its leased industrial land area will increase to 286 hectares by 2024.

AREIT president and CEO Carol Mills said the company is laying the groundwork to accelerate AREIT’s expansion.

“With Ayala Land’s deep pipeline of commercial assets as well as other strategic properties in the Ayala Group, AREIT can have the capacity to grow immensely and attain a market presence at par with some of the REIT players in the region,” Mills said.

She said the planned acquisitions would  have a healthy mix of malls, offices, hotels, and industrial properties.

ALI’s asset infusions into AREIT, approved by its board of directors, comprise Makati flagship assets, Ayala Triangle Gardens Tower 2 – ALI’s most premium office tower located at the corner of Paseo de Roxas and Makati Avenue; luxury mall Greenbelt 3 and 5 and Holiday Inn and Suites Makati at Ayala Center, as well as Seda Ayala Center Cebu.

Under the plan, ALI and its subsidiaries Greenhaven Property Ventures Inc. and Cebu Insular Hotel Co. Inc. will subscribe to 642.1 million AREIT primary common shares in exchange for the Makati and Cebu properties valued at P21.8 billion at an exchange price of P34 per share.

The transaction will be subject to the approval of AREIT shareholders in their special meeting in February 2024 and pertinent regulatory bodies thereafter.

In addition to the asset-share swap, AREIT will acquire Seda Lio in El Nido, Palawan, from ALI subsidiary Econorth Resort Ventures Inc. for P1.19 billion. The acquisition is expected to immediately contribute to AREIT’s income within the first quarter of 2024.

ALI has infused a total of P59 billion in assets into AREIT since its initial public offering in 2020, said  Anna Ma. Margarita Dy, president of ALI and chairman of AREIT.