SM Prime Holdings Inc., the property arm of the Sy family, on Thursday said it raised some P18 billion from the sale of its treasury shares, part of the proceeds of which will be used to pay for the acquisition of a share in OCLP Holdings Inc.
SM Prime in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange said the company’s board approved the sale of 1.06 million common shares held in Treasury.
It said the shares were sold at P17 apiece, or a 5-percent discount from Wednesday’s close of P17.88.
“The transaction involved a successful overnight book-building process, which saw strong interest from high quality institutional investors in Asia, Europe and the United States,” the company said.
The proceeds of the sale will be used for the company’s capital expenditures, general corporate purposes and potential acquisitions, including some of the land holdings of the Ortigas family.
The Sy and Ayala families and the two factions of the Ortigas group, Francisco Ortigas and Rafael Ortigas earlier this month signed an agreement that terminated all cases relating to the ownership and management of OCLP, the holding company of Ortigas and Co.
OCLP owns several strategic land bank and property in key cities around Metro Manila.
JP Morgan Securities Plc. and Macquarie Capital Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. acted as joint bookrunners for the deal, while BDO Capital and Investment Corp. was the domestic lead manager.
The Ortigas family developed what was previously known as the Mandaluyon Estate, a 4,033-hectare lot that was previously part of the Agustinian Order. That estate today spans several key cities of Metro Manila, including Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Pasig and San Juan.
The said estate is where subdivisions such as Greenmeadows, Wack-Wack and Valle Verde; malls, including Tiendesitas, SM Megamall, and Greenhills Shopping Center; and even Philippine military facilities such as Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo currently stand.
SM Prime reported a12-percent increase in net income for the third quarter of the year to P3.7 billion, from the strong growth in rental revenues of its shopping malls all over the country.
This brought its nine-month income to P13.5 billion, also up by 12 percent, while revenues rose to P47.8 billion, an increase of 9 percent year on year.
“Our first year as a consolidated property business is proving to be rewarding not only in terms of our strong financial performance. We are now enjoying the scale and the synergy that the whole group brings to the table, which allows us to plan and execute our projects in a manner that will provide greater value and more enhanced lifestyles for our customers.” SM Prime President Hans Sy said.
SM Prime’s rental revenues from retail and commercial space, which accounted for more than half of its business, grew by 11 percent, to P26.4 billion, from P23.8 billion in 2013 in the first nine months of the year.