Posted on November 22, 2015 08:41:00 PM [ Businessworldonline]
THE Villar group is ramping up the
expansion of its death care development and services firm, piggybacking on the
wide geographical reach of its residential business.
Billionaire Manuel B. Villar, Jr. told
reporters in a recent interview it is keen on building Golden Haven Memorial
Parks in all 100 municipalities where Camella -- Vista Land & Lifescapes,
Inc.’s flagship residential brand -- are located.
“We have a platform. We have a hundred
platforms. We are located in about 100 municipalities. And we feel that there’s
a need for Golden Haven where there is a Camella,” Mr. Villar said.
“Because where there is a Camella,
there’s people who will eventually need this service. So Golden Haven seems to
be a logical step. We have Golden Haven parks now. We want to double it next
year,” Mr. Villar said.
Mr. Villar started Golden Haven in 1984
with a two-hectare memorial park in Las Piñas City. Nearly two decades after,
he expanded the business with the opening of a branch in Cebu in 2003, followed
later by Cagayan De Oro, Zamboanga, Santuario de San Ezekiel Moreno in Las
Piñas, Iloilo and Bulacan.
Golden Haven intends to expand to
Pampanga and Nueva Vizcaya before the end of the year, the former senator said.
“We’re ramping up the expansion of
Golden Haven. We have entered the memorial chapel business. We’re also entering
the crematorium and columbarium business,” Mr. Villar said, noting that he may
eventually bring the business public once it achieves a certain scale.
Golden Haven, however, is not part of
Vista Land. “Vista Land is for the living. Golden Haven will not use property
adjacent to Camella,” he said.
Mr. Villar is consolidating his
residential and commercial leasing businesses under Vista Land in a deal valued
at P33 billion, accelerating its transformation into one of the Philippines’
biggest integrated property developers.
The acquisition of Starmalls will make
Vista Land the country’s top four integrated property developer after Ayala
Land, Inc., SM Prime Holdings, Inc. and Megaworld Corp., capitalizing on
synergies as the latter transforms its Camella housing projects into integrated
“communicities.” -- Krista Angela M. Montealegre
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