By Zinnia B. Dela Peña (The Philippine Star) Updated March 08, 2011 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Sta Lucia Land Inc. (SLI), the publicly-listed property unit of the Sta. Lucia Group, expects to boost its public float to as much as 30 percent with its planned $100-$150 million follow-on offering later this year.
David M. dela Cruz, SLI senior vice-president for corporate finance, said the current public’s shareholdings in the firm is only five percent but expects this figure to increase to around 15-30 percent by the fourth quarter this year or in the first quarter of 2012.
Dela Cruz said the follow-on offering is intended to comply with the bourse’s 10 percent minimum public float requirement for listed companies.
The shares will be offered locally and internationally with Asian Alliance & Investment Corp. and UBS handling the issue.
Proceeds from the offering will be used to fund new projects and expand the group’s tourism and leisure-related assets.
SLI has earmarked P11 billion over a five-year period to put up new residential, office and commercial projects.
Dela Cruz said the company may also tap borrowings to fund its aggressive expansion program, which will see SLI rolling out over 3,600 residential units this year to capitalize on a resurgent property market.
Among its new projects include the Sta. Lucia Towers (located beside the Sta. Lucia mall along Marcos Highway) and office buildings catering to the business process outsourcing sector.
The first two of the five-building Sta. Lucia Towers is slated for construction in the first quarter this year.
The Sta. Lucia Group has had a strong history of building quality projects having developed over 9,000 hectares of prime properties with over 200 projects nationwide.
It by far has served the middle-income segment by providing residential units while tailor-fitting amortization schemes to make the units affordable without comprising quality. It also ventured into retail with its 180,000 square-meter Sta Lucia Grand East Mall in Cainta, Rizal which provides a steady stream of cash flows to the company.
With a formidable sales force of over 120,000, the group has been able to market and develop projects all over the country, with major developments in key areas within and outside Metro Manila such as Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo, Baguio, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Subic, Bulacan and Pampanga.
SLI was formed in 2007 through a backdoor listing by parent firm Sta. Lucia Realty & Development Inc. of Zipporrah Realty Holdings.
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