Ayala unit announces offer price for first REIT in PHL

AREIT Inc., the pioneering realestate investment trust (REIT) in the country sponsored by Ayala Land Inc., has priced its initial public offering at P27 per share, or at the midrange of its pricing.

Brokers have earlier set a price band for the said offering between P25 to P29.50.

With the said price, the company can raise some P12.33 billion in fresh capital and will become the country's first REIT company to be listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) more than a decade after the signing into law of the REIT Act in 2009.

AREIT intends to use the net proceeds from the primary offer to fund the intended acquisition of Teleperformance Cebu from ALO Prime Realty Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayala Land.

Net proceeds from the secondary offer, meanwhile, shall be reinvested by Ayala Land in real-estate projects located in the Philippines within a period of one year. Ayala Land is a subsidiary of conglomerate Ayala Corp.

AREIT is selling 49 percent of the company, or about 456.88 million common shares, of which some 47.86 million are new shares, 409.01 million secondary shares and 45.68 million shares as its over-allotment option.

Some 70 percent of the shares will be for institutional buyers both here and abroad and 30 percent will be for local buyers including small investors offer period runs from July 27 to August 3. It will be listed at the PSE on August 13.

Ayala Land will remain as majority shareholder of AREIT, holding a 51-percent interest.

BPI Capital Corp. is the sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner for the IPO while UBS AG Singapore Branch is the sole international bookrunner for the international tranche of the IPO.

BPI Capital, PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. are assigned as joint lead underwriters for the domestic tranche.