Export Bank sells 18.4% stake in Arthaland for P177.7M

MANILA, Philippines—Export and Industry Bank sold its 18.4 percent stake in publicly listed property developer Arthaland Corp. for P177.7 million to a group of financial investors, thereby unloading non-core assets ahead of the sale of its banking operations to Banco de Oro Unibank.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, ExportBank said it had sold about 981.7 million shares of Arthaland for 18.1 centavos each.

Arthaland shares were up by 2.7 percent to 18.9 centavos at the local stock market on Tuesday.

Separate disclosures by Export Bank and Arthaland identified the buyers and the respective shares acquired as follows: Edimax Investment Ltd. (296.46 million); Kinstar Investment Ltd. (94.72 million); Viplus Investment Ltd. (247.9 million) and Nanlong Investment Ltd. (342.62 million).

Arthaland is a partnership between AO Capital of banker Jaime Gonzales and the Po family’s Century Canning Corp., which each own about 33 percent of the property company.

Gonzales, also the chairman of Export Bank, said in a text message that the buyers were a “group of financial investors” and not affiliated with the Po family.

Arthaland owns the 6,537-square-meter lot along 7th Avenue in Fort Bonifacio where it is building the upscale residential complex Arya Residences. It likewise has a prime property near St. Luke’s hospital and another one near the upcoming Shangri-La hotel in Fort Bonifacio. The company also has a vast landbank in Tagaytay.

Arthaland, formerly EIB Realty Developers, has a market capitalization of about P978 million as of Tuesday’s close.

In 2010, Export Bank has committed to sell its core banking business to Banco de Oro.  The transaction has yet to be completed pending final approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.