Alphaland open to stock market return

MANILA, Philippines — Alphaland Corp., the upscale property developer behind the Balesin Island Club, is keeping its doors open for a potential return to the stock market.

Alphaland chairman and CEO Eric Recto told The STAR that the company, which was delisted on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in 2014, is still open to list in the stock market again to potentially raise funds, although it is not in a hurry to do so.

“That’s not off the table, but that’s not my priority at this stage. My priority is to get the business on being one of the top hospitality groups in the country, to keep our place in that group of companies,” he said in an interview.

But for Alphaland to list in the stock market again, Recto said the company would need to have a more meaningful set of projects that would require additional funding.

“It should be more than what we’ve already provided because that is why you want to access public markets, right?  And at this stage, a lot of the projects that we’re looking at are still too preliminary so I can’t really justify going public and raise money and not have definite use for it,” he said.

Alphaland president Dennis Valdes also told The STAR that relisting is one of the available options for the company to raise capital.

“As a good businessman, Mr. Recto should be open to all of the possibilities and he is examining which one will ultimately be the best for stockholders,” Valdes said.

Alphaland was removed from the roster of listed companies in the PSE as penalty for supposedly violating disclosure requirements.

The company was banned to apply for relisting within five years after its delisting date.

At present, Recto, the nephew of late tycoon Roberto Ongpin, and Valdes, a returning president of the company, are leading Alphaland on its next phase of growth.

“What Eric and I are really trying to do is you have that vision from Roberto Ongpin, the founder, and how do you make that a sustainable legacy. And Balesin Key is the first step. With this first step, then we can do a lot more things,” Valdes said.

Last month, Alphaland launched Balesin Key, an exclusive membership offering which expands the company’s portfolio for its members.

Beyond Balesin Island in Quezon, Balesin Key provides access to two new destinations – Balesin City in Makati and Balesin Pines in Baguio.

For Balesin Key, Alphaland has invested over P500 million for the new facility in Baguio, the refurbishment of some units in Balesin and the conversion of suites in Makati.

“Mr. Recto is a visionary type of person. It was his idea to do Balesin Key and we’re seeing that it has gotten positive feedbacks so far. Hopefully we can meet his target for sales and with that, we have a good base for Alphaland to keep growing,” Valdes said.