Posted on December 03, 2014 11:04:00
PM
PROPERTY giant Ayala Land, Inc. has
made a bid for an additional 15.79% stake in the owner of TriNoma, formerly the
North Triangle Commercial Center, regulatory filings showed yesterday.
VIEW of the TriNoma Mall from the Sky
Garden of SM North EDSA in Quezon City
The deal valued at P1.26 billion will
give Ayala Land a controlling stake in North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp.,
which owns and operates the TriNoma commercial centre in North Triangle, Quezon
City.
Ayala Land currently owns 49.29% of
the TriNoma operator.
It is buying the shares held by Anglo
Philippine Holdings Corp. (APHC), Ayala Land, the country’s biggest property
developer by market value, said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock
Exchange (PSE).
In a separate disclosure, APHC said
its board of directors approved the transaction on Tuesday, subject to the
offer’s terms and conditions, while adding that other shareholders of North
Triangle are given the right of first refusal.
The North Triangle Depot Commercial
Corp. was incorporated in 2001 to build TriNoma at the main depot of the Metro
Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3). TriNoma, a 188,000-sqm mall, broke ground in June 2005
and began operations in May 2007.
The mall is contiguous to a 29-hectare
property in Quezon City that is now called the North Triangle Property, which
Ayala Land and the National Housing Authority is jointly developing into a
central business district. The joint venture agreement was signed in August
2009.
LEASING
“This acquisition is aligned with
ALI’s thrust of expanding its leasing business,” Ayala Land said.
For the first nine months of the year,
Ayala Land’s revenues from commercial leasing rose 17% year on year to P15.38
billion, its third-quarter financial statement showed.
Revenues from shopping centers grew by
9% to P8.26 billion, alongside a “steady increase” in monthly average lease
rates to P1,134 per square meter (sq.m.) from P1,108 per sq.m. in the same
period last year, “with the opening of new malls and steady rental
escalations.”
Total gross leasable area (GLA) also
climbed by an annual 9%, occupied GLA increased by 6%, while same mall rental
growth increased inched up by 9%.
This year,
the company said it will spend for the development of leasing assets including
the Vertis Mall, BPO and Hotel; Circuit Mall, Retail Strip and Hotel; and
Southpark Mall and BPO.
Shares in
Ayala Land gained five centavos or 0.14% to close at P34.95 apiece, while those
of APHC also rose by nine centavos or 5.36% to P1.77 each.
Anglo
Philippine shares, meanwhile, rose 5.36% to P1.77 each. Apart from its stake in
North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp., this listed investment holding firm also
has investments in United Paragon Mining Corporation; Atlas Consolidated Mining
& Development Corporation; The Philodrill Corporation; MRT Development
Corp.; MRT Holdings, Inc.; Brightnote Asset Corporation; and Filipinas Energy
Corporation. -- Daphne J. Magturo
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