September 17, 2020 | 12:04 am [ bworldonline.com ]
AREIT, Inc., the real estate investment trust (REIT) of Ayala Land, Inc., has bought an office building in Cebu City using P1.45 billion from the proceeds of its recent public offering.
In disclosures to the exchange on Wednesday, AREIT said it signed a deed of sale with ALO Prime Realty Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayala Land, to buy Teleperformance Cebu.
Teleperformance Cebu is a 12-story building located at the Cebu I.T. Park, Cebu City. It has a total gross leasable area of 18,092 square meters that is 100% occupied.
“This maiden acquisition will increase AREIT’s dividend yield consistent with its growth strategy of acquiring prime real estate assets with stable occupancy,” it said.
AREIT is paying quarterly dividends starting this month, where the payout should be at least 90% of its income.
With the acquisition of Teleperformance Cebu, AREIT’s portfolio has expanded to a gross leasable area of 172,000 square meters from nearly 153,000 square meters before the deal.
“The acquisition in Cebu is strategic for AREIT,” Carol T. Mills, president of AREIT, said in the statement. “Most BPOs (business process outsourcing firms) in Metro Manila have expansion sites and operations in Cebu because of its strong talent pool. Like in Metro Manila, Ayala Land has a significant share in the Cebu office market.”
AREIT has paid an initial P290 million to ALO Prime Realty upon the signing of the deed of absolute sale. The balance of P1.16 billion will be paid after the transfer of the building’s Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) registration to AREIT.
AREIT did a P12.33-billion initial public offering in August to mark the country’s first REIT offering. Prior to the acquisition of Teleperformance Cebu, AREIT’s portfolio consisted of three Makati-based office buildings: 24-story commercial building Solaris One, two-tower mixed-use development Ayala North Exchange and five-story commercial office McKinley Exchange.
As required by REIT guidelines, proceeds from a REIT offering must be reinvested back to the country within a year. AREIT said then it is eyeing other real estate properties in Metro Manila and key regions.
Shares in AREIT at the stock exchange climbed five centavos or 0.19% to P25.70 each on Wednesday. — Denise A. Valdez
