Amicus Holdings eyes P7.7B from IPO

By: Amy R. Remo - 10 years ago

SCREENGRAB from www.amicusholdings.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines—Amicus Holdings Inc., the holding entity of realty firm Property Company of Friends Inc. (Pro-Friends), is targeting to raise P7.7 billion in fresh funds from its planned initial public offering (IPO).

In a statement, Amicus Holdings said it has tapped BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp., as the joint issue managers, lead underwriters and bookrunners for this planned offering of 385.75 million shares, priced at up to P20 apiece.

Proceeds from the IPO will be used for additional investments In Pro-Friends, particularly for land acquisition, and land and housing development; equity investments in its financing subsidiary; and for general corporate purposes, according to Amicus.

Pro-Friends has grown into one of the largest property companies in the country, with more than 26,000 houses sold in Cavite and Iloilo. Projects included Lancaster New City, which is the company’s largest project with a total land area of 1,435 hectares in Cavite; Bellefort Estates; and Carmona Estates. It was in the fourth quarter of 2007 that Pro-Friends launched Iloilo Estates, which marked the company’s first foray outside Cavite and Metro Manila. Other projects in Iloilo included Parc Regency Residences, Parc Regency Greens, and Monticello Villas.

As of the end June this year, Pro-Friends had total assets amounting to P26.128 billion, while revenues generated from real estate sales reached P4.951 billion.

“Our group is more committed than ever to providing long term value for our customers through strategic and holistic investments in providing their needs. We do not want to limit our service and product offerings to our customers; rather our focus has always been enhanced customer satisfaction, their long-term well being and that of their families’,” noted Guillermo Choa, president and CEO of Amicus Holdings.

“This translates to key business strategies in the immediate that include expanding the group’s geographic presence nationwide, increased investments in product level research and development that will allow our team of specialists to remain close to our market and be able to improve processes, product features, and functionalities. Gaining insights from our market research will also allow us to make more investments towards ancillary products for our homebuyers to complete their lifestyle requirements,” Choa added.