[ manilastandardtoday.com ]
The SM group is “getting nearer” to
acquiring a majority stake in the private holding firm of the Ortigas family.
“Everything is ready. The financing is
ready. We’re just waiting for final instruction,” SM Investments Corp. vice
chairman Henry Sy Jr. said.
Ortigas & Co. Limited Partnership
director Rafael Ortigas confirmed last week in an interview that both parties
were still in talks.
“We are talking but we have not
concluded anything yet,” Ortigas said.
Sy said negotiations between the two
parties are “getting nearer and nearer” and talks are getting more frequent.
The Ortigas group has vast properties
in Mandaluyong, San Juan and Quezon City. Its properties include some of the
country’s best residential, business and commercial developments.
These include the landmark Greenhills
Shopping Center, the financial district of Ortigas Center, value regional shopping destination Tiendesitas in
the mixed-use prime location of Frontera Verde, residential areas Valle Verde
subdivisions, Greenmeadows, Greenhills subdivisions, Luntala, Circulo Verde and
Viridian in Greenhills.
SM Investments, on the other hand, is
one of the country’s largest conglomerates with investments in banking, real
estate, shopping mall development and mining.
SM Investments chief finance officer
Jose Sio earlier confirmed the Sy group eyed a majority interest in OCLP.
Both groups, however, did not disclose
the size of the transaction.
(Published in the Manila Standard
Today newspaper on /2012/April/24)
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