By MST Business | Nov. 10, 2014 at
11:01pm
The Ayala, Sy and Ortigas families,
which own vast property holdings in the Philippines, will likely build joint
venture projects that will further expand the
asset portfolio of the three groups.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail
tycoon Henry Sy is looking at a fruitful working relationship with Ayala Land
Inc. and the Ortigas Group following their decision to enter into a partnership
agreement.
“It was a proposal that was laid at
the table that we felt maybe rather than stressing ourselves out, we just
decided to see what we can do together,” SM Prime president Hans Sy told
reporters at the sidelines of a forum Monday.
Sy said he “cannot divulge anything
yet” on the possible projects that the three might develop together.
“I don’t want to preempt anyone yet,”
Sy said.
Ayala Land Inc. and SM Prime ended a
two-year legal feud over the control of vast landholdings owned by the Ortigas
Group.
SM Prime and Ayala Land issued
separate disclosures to the stock exchange Friday that the two developers, along with groups
controlled by Francisco Ortigas and Rafael Ortigas, signed an agreement to drop
all lawsuits relating to the ownership and management of the family’s OCLP
Holdings Inc.
The parties said they agreed “to cause
the termination of all cases relating to the ownership and management of OCLP
Holdings Inc., which owns Ortigas and Company Ltd. Partnership.”
“SMPH and ALI will enter into partnership
with FOG and ROG. This strategic alliance will further enhance the properties
in the Ortigas area, and create maximum value for their various stakeholders,”
the developers said.
The alliance ended the two-year
rivalry of Ayala and SM over a stake in
OCLP and its land holdings. Ayala and SM have also fought over a 300-hectare
(741-acre) reclamation project on Manila Bay, a 7.7-hectare property in Negros
Occidental and which mall would be picked the new train hub.
A stockbrokerage firm said the settlement
over OCLP Holdings “may set the stage for more compromises between SM and ALI.”
The group of Rafael Ortigas formed an
alliance with Ayala Land while the bloc of Francisco Ortigas teamed up with SM
Investments.
“We have agreed to move forward… All
of us have decided to come together,” Ayala Land president Bernard Vincent Dy
said earlier.
The Ayala Group, together with the
camp of Rafael Ortigas, will take four board seats in OCLP Holdings, the
holding company of the Ortigas family, while SM Prime together with Francisco
Ortigas will take four board seats in the nine-man board.
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