Friday, August 28, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
BY DON GIL K. CARREON, Reporter
FORMER EXECUTIVES of Ayala Land, Inc. have set up a new company to be used as a vehicle for possible joint venture real estate projects.
The new company, named Geopacific Development Corp., was incorporated by Ayala Land founding president Francisco H. Licuanan III and ex-Ayala Land official Miriam O. Katigbak, documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission showed.
The two currently hold the top posts in Geo-Estate Development Corp., which is building its first project — an P8-billion, three-tower condominium in Makati named The Beacon.
The other incorporators are Regina P. Geraldez, Eusebio V. Tan, and Aleli Angela G. Quirino. The regulator approved the firm’s incorporation last week.
In a telephone interview, Wai Ming Wong, Geo-Estate vice- president for project development, said Geopacific Development was set up to serve as a possible vehicle for joint ventures.
"Actually we are looking for a venture project and other opportunities and [Geopacific Development] would be one of the vehicles for that," he said.
Mr. Wai, however, declined to go into detail, but said the new firm would be engaged in "horizontal developments," referring to high-rise buildings.
"We have something in mind but it’s not yet definite ... Hopefully next year or the year after we can [start] this," he added.
Geopacific Development has P50 million in capital, a quarter of which was subscribed to by New Pacific Resources Management, Inc.
According to the Web site of The Beacon, New Pacific Resources is a partnership between Mr. Licuanan and Accra Investment Holdings, Inc. It claims to have nearly P2 billion in land holdings in Metro Manila, Cavite, and Valenzuela.
In July, Mr. Licuanan said Geo-Estate plans to build a residential subdivision in Cavite as a follow-up for its maiden three-tower project in Makati.
The company also plans to build several horizontal projects in Metro Manila, he said during a news conference, but declined to give other details.
Geo-Estate had said the first of The Beacon’s 44-storey condominium towers would be finished by 2011, while the second was scheduled for completion on 2013.
The project is a partnership with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., which owns the one-hectare land where the towers are being built, and EEI Corp., the project’s contractor.
Geo-Estate was incorporated in 2007 to engage in the management and marketing of horizontal and vertical real estate projects.
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