Friday, June 12, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
THREE PROPERTY developers have been declared eligible to challenge Megaworld Corp.’s P2.789-billion offer for an 8.38-hectare military lot in Taguig, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said yesterday.
Listed firms Ayala Land, Inc., Filinvest Land, Inc. and Robinsons Land Corp. will have up to August 14 to submit their proposals, the state agency said in a statement.
The minimum price is pegged at Megaworld’s offer, which translates to P33,283.88 per square meter. On top of this, challengers will have to commit to spend at least P15.6 billion to develop the land, the BCDA said.
But the BCDA clarified that it would select the best counter offer "based solely on the price proposed for the property."
The property, dubbed as "North Bonifacio," lies mostly between the parallel Eight and Ninth Avenues of Fort Bonifacio, which houses the army headquarters.
Megaworld had submitted an unsolicited bid for it last year and would win the deal if it is able to match the best of the counter offers.
Ayala Land and Robinsons Land already have developments in the area. Both had said North Bonifacio complemented their portfolios. Officials from the two firms and from Filinvest could not be reached yesterday for comment.
Eight companies had expressed interest to challenge Megaworld. Asked why the other firms did not qualify, BCDA Vice-President Aileen R. Zosa said in a text message that only the three firms submitted the required documents. Aside from those three, Philippine Estates Corp., Rockwell Land Corp., W Land Holdings, Inc., Total Consolidated Asset Management, Inc., and Jones Lang La Salle Lee Chiu considered joining the "competitive challenge."
Share prices of all the eligible challengers dipped yesterday. Ayala Land shares fell 1.09% to P9.10 apiece while Filinvest was similarly down by 1.2% to P0.82. Robinsons Land sustained a larger fall of 2.7% to P7.20 apiece. — J.A.D. Hermosa
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