Share swap deal of AREIT, ALI gets SEC approval

MANILA, Philippines — AREIT Inc., the listed pioneer REIT in the Philippines owned by the Ayala Group, has received the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its property-for-share swap with sponsor Ayala Land Inc.

ALI will subscribe to 252.1 million AREIT shares in exchange for ALI-owned Cebu commercial properties valued at P11.2 billion, pursuant to the deed of exchange signed in May last year.

With the completion of the transaction, AREIT’s gross leasable area (GLA) has expanded to 673,000 square meters. Its total market capitalization has reached P63 billion from P27 billion during its initial public offering in August 2020.

Against this backdrop, AREIT declared third quarter 2022 dividends amounting to P0.49 per share, to stockholders of record as of Oct. 25, 2022, earlier than its regular quarterly dividend declaration.

The new assets are expected to contribute to earnings of the company in the succeeding periods.

In line with this, the parties have executed an amendment to Section 4.3 of the deed of exchange effecting the recognition of income from AREIT’s new assets for the fourth quarter of 2022.

AREIT posted a net income of P2.4 billion from January to September 2022, up 65 percent year-on-year, driven by a 68 percent growth in revenues to P3.6 billion.

The company also reported an average occupancy rate of 97 percent and a rental collection rate of 98 percent as of September 2022.

AREIT shares closed at P36.20 yesterday, up 1.69 percent from the previous day.

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The article was originally published in PhilStarGlobal and written by Iris Gonzales.