Ayala Land, AREIT swap P20.9-billion worth of shares

The board of property developer Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) approved a property for share swap with its real estate investment trust (REIT) Areit Inc. worth P20.99 billion, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

The company’s board, along with its units  Accendo Commercial Corp., Cagayan de Oro Gateway Corp. and Central Bloc Hotel Ventures Inc., has approved to subscribe to  505.89 million primary common shares of Areit in exchange for eight commercial properties.

“The proposed property-for-share swap is for approval of the Areit shareholders at their annual meeting on April 24, 2025 and pertinent regulatory bodies,” the company said.

The company said it is raising up to P75 billion in debt to partially finance general corporate requirements and refinance maturing debt.

The company said it will issue of retail bonds or corporate notes for listing on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation, or execution of bilateral term loans. Augusto D. Bengzon, the company’s CFO, said the company’s fundraising will be done in peso, and of the total amount, P25 billion is earmarked for refinancing of its maturing loans.

“So we have maturities of P25 billion. The balance of the P50 billion… we think we’ll be borrowing much less than that. Most likely, we’ll go to the market for P30 billion, of which half, similar to how we do it before, half will go to bank financing and the other half, we will tap the capital markets,” Bengzon said.

“So I think P25 billion for refinancing, that’s going to happen. And then maybe another P30 billion to fund the new capex [capital expenditure].”

The company would spend some P95 billion in capex this year.

Ayala Land has also approved the amendment of article seventh of its articles of incorporation to reduce the authorized capital stock to P20.43 billion from 21.43 billion. The company said it will retire 1 billion common shares held in treasury. VG Cabuag

The decrease in its authorized capital stock and the amendment of the seventh article will be presented to its stockholders for approval at their annual meeting on April 24.

The company also said it has allocated some 12 million  ALI Performance Shares Plan over the next three years.

The said plan “is designed to propel our three-year strategy, strengthen key talent engagement, and ensure alignment with shareholder interests.”

It will supplement the company’s existing employee stock ownership plan. Shares issued from ALI PS will form part of the 3 percent allocation of its authorized common shares for stock options.