Ayala Land buys Aboitiz out of Cebu project

Property developer Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has acquired the 50-percent share of the Aboitiz family in Cebu District Property Enterprise Inc. (CDPEI) for P1.81 billion, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

In its disclosure, Ayala Land said it signed a share purchase agreement with Aboitiz Land Inc. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) for their stake in CDPEI.

The agreement involved 18.1 million shares of CDPEI for P100 apiece. Some 1.8 million shares were owned by Aboitiz Land while 16.29 million shares in preferred shares were owned by AEV.

“This acquisition will consolidate ALI’s ownership of CDPEI, the developer of Gatewalk Central. ALI envisions Gatewalk Central to be one of its key Cebu estates that will contribute to ALI’s growing presence in the Visayas region,” Ayala Land said.

The company said the deal would need regulatory approvals from the Securities and

Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Competition Commission. CDPEI is seeking SEC’s nod for the increase in its authorized capital stock.

CDPEI was incorporated by Ayala Land, Aboitiz Land and AEV in 2014 to engage in the business of real estate development. It is the developer of Gatewalk Central Superblock, a 17.5-hectare mixed-use estate in Mandaue City, Cebu.

It is a mixed-use building that highlights a four-storey mall for various retail, food and entertainment establishments; a nine-storey BPO tower; a transit terminal; and two basement levels.

“The transaction is aligned with the company’s strategy to optimize resource allocation and focus on specific segments of the real estate industry,” AEV said.

Ayala Land reported last month that its net income in the first quarter reached P6.29 billion, 39 percent higher than the previous year’s P4.51 billion, on brisk demand for its properties.

Consolidated revenues grew 33 percent to P41 billion from the previous year’s P30.9 billion.

Alveo Land, the upscale developer unit of Ayala Land, reported a record income of P12.7 billion, some 42 percent higher than the previous year’s P8.9 billion.

Property development revenues went up by 47 percent to P25 billion, driven by robust residential and commercial lot bookings. Residential revenues surged by 51 percent to P21.4 billion and revenues from commercial and industrial lots jumped 59 percent to P2.8 billion.

Meanwhile, office-for-sale revenues fell 26 percent to P826 million as the lower incremental percentage of completion of the projects offset the sales bookings during the quarter.

Residential reservation sales reached P33.3 billion, 20 percent higher than last year, led by the strong demand for products in the premium and vertical segments.