SINGAPORE (July 21): On July 11, the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved an initial public offering (IPO) for Ayala Land’s REIT subsidiary, AREIT, the first of its kind in the country and sets the pace for more REIT listings.
Ayala Land will offer up to 502.6 million shares in the new AREIT, according to filings submitted to the SEC. Each share will be priced at a maximum of PHP30.05 pesos, raising up to PHP13.7 billion. The REIT is set to list on August 13 with an indicative yield of 5.4-6.3%. Primarily an office REIT, about 59% of its total GLA of 152,756 sqm is leased out to business process outsourcing or BPOs. Part of the proceeds will be used to acquire Teleperformance Cebu, a commercial asset, post listing.
The Philippines is the fourth Southeast Asian country to start its own REIT market. In 2014, Thailand allowed the conversion of its property trusts into REITs. Singapore had its first REIT listing in 2002, and Malaysia in 2005. India’s REIT framework enabled the listing of Embassy REIT in April 2019.
