Ayala builds more Seda hotels

By Jenniffer B. Austria | Sep. 01, 2014 at 12:01am [ manilastandardtoday.com ]

Property developer Ayala Land Inc. said it will open six new hotels under the Seda brand over the next four years.

Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp. chief operating officer Al Legaspi said in a statement some 1,100 new rooms would come onstream in the next four years to augment the existing portfolio of 665 rooms.

These new hotels include Seda Atria in Mandurriao, Iloilo City, Seda Vertis North in Quezon City, Seda Circuit in Makati, Seda Arca South in Taguig, Seda Lio in Northern Palawan and Seda City Gate in Makati.

Seda City Gate recently had its groundbreaking and is expected to open in 2018.

All of these new Seda hotel projects are strategically situated within Ayala mixed-use developments.

“Currently, the Seda brand fills a gap in each of the markets it serves. This is for a quality hotel in a strategic location within an emerging growth center, and which offers service excellence following global standards,” said Legaspi.

AHRC opened four Seda hotels within Ayala Land mixed-use communities in Bonifacio Global City with 179 rooms, Cagayan de Oro City with 150 rooms, Davao City with 186 rooms and Nuvali, Laguna with 150 rooms.

Seda group general manager Andrea Mastellone said all Seda hotels in operation were performing well.

“In all these locations, Seda has set new hospitality standards for comfortable accommodations, urban amenities, and warm yet efficient service in a contemporary setting,” he said.

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SMDC completes turnover of units in Mandaluyong, Makati projects

By Richmond Mercurio (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 1, 2014 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the residential development arm of property conglomerate SM Prime Holdings Inc. has recently completed the turnover of more units in its two condominium developments in Makati and Mandaluyong.

In a statement, SMDC said it has managed to turn over more than 2,500 units in Jazz Residences in Makati and Light Residences in Mandaluyong in less than two months.

SMDC in end-June started turning over to customers 1,077 units at Tower C in Jazz Residences and 1,460 units at Tower 3 of Light Residences.

“We are pleased to welcome the new residents of Jazz Residences, and Light Residences. We remain committed to bring conveniences and synergies from our retail, banking and property businesses at their doorstep,” SMDC president Jeffrey Lim said.

Jazz Residences is a four-tower “vertical village” in Bel-Air Makati that features five-star amenities. The development has its own mall called the Jazz Mall which is complete with commercial and food establishments as well as a SM Hypermarket.

Light Residences, meanwhile, is a three-tower residential condominium located at the corner of EDSA and Madison St. and is linked to the Boni-EDSA MRT station.

The Light Mall, located at the first and second floors of the podium, will offer dining and entertainment areas once it opens in the fourth quarter of the year.

The mall will have three cinemas, a wide array of restaurants and a Savemore outlet, SMDC said.

Jazz Residences and Light Residences are part of the 22 condominium brands of SMDC located in different parts of Quezon City, Pasay, Parañaque, Pasig, Manila, Taguig and Tagaytay.

SMDC earlier said it is launching seven new projects totaling 15,000 residential units this year while expanding its portfolio to upscale housing.

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Phinma allots P3 B for school acquisitions

By Richmond S. Mercurio (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 29, 2014 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - Investment firm Phinma Corp. is earmarking as much as P3 billion for potential acquisitions of schools in Metro Manila or Cebu to add to its network of tertiary institutions.

Phinma Education Network chief finance officer Daisy C. Montinola said the company is currently in talks with various schools in cities and in provinces for potential acquisitions.

 “If the opportunity presents itself, then we’ll grab it,” she said.

Montinola said the company is willing to spend as much as P3 billion to acquire a big school in metropolitan areas like Manila or Cebu. She said the budget being allocated for a potential buyout of a school in the provinces, meanwhile, is around P250 million to P500 million.

“The amount really depends on the location (of the school) and the number of students,” Montinola added.

Phinma Education Network chief Chito B. Salazar said the company is looking for prospects in Davao, Baguio City, Batangas and the Bicol region.

 “We continue to look for chances to add to our network of tertiary institutions focusing on the lower income markets,” Salazar said.

Phinma Education to date has four higher education schools that serve students from middle to lower income families around the country. Its network consists of Araullo University, Cagayan de Oro College, University of Pangasinan and University of Iloilo.

Aside from setting its sights on potential existing schools to buy, the company is also investing P150 million to put up a new campus in Urdaneta, Pangasinan by next year. The campus will be called Phinma UPang.

Phinma last month disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange its plan to launch a new school called Career Academy Asia (CAA) by next year in partnership with two Singaporean schools.

CAA will be a senior high school focused on specialized programs such as fashion design, graphic design and hospitality.

With its plans for aggressive expansion in its school network in the near term, Montinola said education business is expected to further increase its share in the bottom line of the company over the next two to three years.

At present, she said Phinma Education currently contributes for about 60 percent of Phinma Corp.’s earnings.

Phinma Education aims to grow its profits by 25 percent year-on-year to P200 million by the end of its fiscal year.

Salazar said the targeted growth in Phinma Education’s net income can be attainable despite reducing tuition fees over the past years.

 “We believe that making high quality education profitable and affordable are not two separate tasks, they are one and the same task. We provide what is most necessary for our students to learn, nothing more, nothing less,” Salazar said.

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Pro-Friends sets P7.7-B IPO in Oct

By Richmond Mercurio (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 27, 2014 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The newly-incorporated holding company of affordable housing developer Property Co. of Friends Inc. (Pro-Friends) is all set for its initial public offering (IPO) by October this year to raise as much as P7.7 billion in fresh funds for its expansion.

Amicus Holdings Inc., the holding entity of Pro-Friends, said yesterday it has filed an application for an IPO to offer 385.75 million primary shares at a price of up to P20 per share.

Listing is expected in the second half of October, the company said.

Proceeds from the IPO will be used to finance additional investments in Pro-Friends, “particularly for land acquisition as well as land and housing development, equity investments in its financing subsidiary, and general corporate purposes.”

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. have been appointed as joint issue managers, lead underwriters and bookrunners for the transaction.

“Our group is more committed than ever to providing long-term value for our customers through strategic and holistic investments in providing their needs. This translates to key business strategies in the immediate that include expanding the group’s geographic presence nationwide, increased investments in product-level research and development that will allow our team of specialists to remain close to our market and be able to improve processes, product features, and functionalities,” said Guillermo Choa, Amicus president and chief executive officer.

Pro-Friends had earlier planned to join the local bourse via the backdoor route by acquiring dormant listed firm Asiatrust Development Bank Inc.

A backdoor listing, a cheaper and faster way to achieve listing status, occurs when a listed firm is acquired by a private company, resulting in a change in business.

Pro-Friends, which develops communities that feature homes, schools, call centers, hospitals and malls, has built more than 26,000 housing units and completed 52 projects in Cavite, Iloilo and Metro Manila.                       

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SM wins Parañaque reclamation

By Jenniffer B. Austria | Aug. 27, 2014 at 12:01am [ manilastandardtoday.com ]

Parañaque City has accepted the proposal of the SM Group of tycoon Henry Sy to develop and reclaim 300 hectares of land in Manila Bay within the city’s jurisdiction.

The public-private partnership selection committee of Parañaque City, in a notice published in one newspaper, said only SM Land Inc. had satisfactorily submitted a feasibility study containing all the required components on the proposed reclamation project.

The Parañaque reclamation is the second of such project awarded by a local government unit to the SM Group. The Pasay City government in December last year agreed to team up with the SM group over a proposed P54.5-billion reclamation project in Manila Bay covering 300 hectares.

SM Land has merged with SM Prime Holdings Inc. to form the biggest property company in the Philippines.

The recommendation to accept SM proposal gave SM Land the “original proponent” status, Parañaque said in a legal notice. The other proponent, S&P Construction Technology Development Corp., failed to submit a complete feasibility study despite due notice, it added.

The Pasay committee said Parañaque City and SM Land could now begin detailed negotiations on the terms and conditions of the reclamation project as well as the technical and financial aspect of the jobs.

The project will be subject to a competitive challenge to determine the best beneficial joint venture agreement to Parañaque, the committee said.

Other interested parties can obtain tender documents for the competitive challenge proceedings within 30 days from the publication of the notice.

Parañaque created the  public-private partnership selection committee in October 2013 to study the proposals and expressions of interest made by several companies  on Manila Bay reclamation projects.

In September, SM Land submitted an unsolicited proposal to Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez on the reclamation project, which he promptly referred to the City Council.

Two other companies, Ayala Land Inc. and S&P Construction, wrote Olivarez to express their interest in any reclamation project to be undertaken in the city.

The Philippine Reclamation Authority earlier said no reclamation activity could legally proceed without the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority board.

The acceptance by the local government units of Parañaque and Pasay of SM group’s offer to develop and reclaim a combined 600 hectares of land will consolidate the company’s planned developments in the Manila Bay area.

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