Atencio buys 13% stake in Ovialand

MANILA, Philippines — Businessman Januario Jesus Atencio, former CEO of 8990 Holdings, is making a big comeback to the real estate scene through an equity investment in housing developer Ovialand Inc.

Atencio’s Januarius Holdings yesterday announced a partnership with the Laguna-based property developer, which is expecting P4 billion in revenues over the next three years from a current land bank of 32 hectares.

Under the agreement, Atencio now owns 13 percent of Ovialand, with an option to increase it to 20 percent in three years.

“I saw a great company. It has great potential serving a market that is only growing and so the upside of this investment, of this relationship is actually very promising,” he said.

Atencio retired from the listed mass housing developer 8990 in 2017 after 13 years of leading the company.

Ovialand’s developments are currently concentrated in Southern Luzon with projects such as Sannera and Savana in San Pablo, Laguna, as well as Cailya in Candelaria, Quezon.

“Currently, we are producing between 500 to 600 units a year at a price range of P2.2 million to P2.8 million. These are all horizontal house and lots developments,” Ovialand president Pammy Olivares-Vital said.

Within five years, Vital said the company plans to raise the current output to around 4,000 units a year, and further to 8,000 to 10,00 units annually by 2030.

“The vision is that in the next 10 years, Ovialand is going to become a nationwide player in real estate with presence in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao,” she said.

“We’re expecting our first regional development in the area of Visayas in around 2024 to 2025 at which we intend to start our township communities as well. We also intend to venture into four-story mid-rise buildings in more congested areas of Metro Manila. The vision is to bring premier family living in a vertical space. That’s where we intend to go in the next 10 years,” Vital said.

Moving forward, Ovialand also plans to go public. “Now that we have Mr. Atencio on board, that is definitely something that we can seriously consider,” Vital said.