Ayala Land acquires stake in Malaysian property firm
REAL estate giant Ayala Land Inc. has acquired a stake in a Malaysian developer, the first step in a regional diversification plan that is expected to help sustain the company’s growth.
Ayala Land said in a stock exchange filing Monday that wholly-owned subsidiary Regent Wise Investments Ltd. paid P1.9 billion for a 9.16-percent stake in MCT Bhd., a 16-year-old company that is currently developing projects in the Klang Valley in Malaysia.
MCT, which made its trading debut on Malaysia’s stock exchange also Monday, is formerly known as GW Plastics Holdings Bhd.
Ayala Land CEO Bernard Vincent Dy said the deal, which gave Ayala Land a board seat, opened doors for the Philippine developer in Malaysia and elsewhere in Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is home to more than 600 million people.
For 2015, the region is expected to grow by 5.1 percent, faster than the global growth of 3.5 percent, according to the economic ministers of the Asean.
Ayala Land previously mentioned Indonesia, Vietnam and Burma (Myanmar) as potential expansion areas.
‘‘We have always had aspirations to grow a meaningful-sized business, not only in the Philippines but also outside the Philippines,’’ Dy told reporters in a press conference following Ayala Land’s annual meeting Monday.
He described MCT Bhd as a medium-sized player with the potential to play a larger role in Malaysia’s property market.
‘‘By partnering with a company such as MCT Bhd., Ayala Land will be expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia in line with its diversification goals and setting the platform for growth in Malaysia,’’ Ayala Land said in its filing.
‘‘This allows Ayala Land to enter the Malaysian market with an experienced team, benefit from synergies of the partnership, and further add value to MCT over the long term to enable it to become a key player in the Malaysian real estate market,’’ it added.
Ayala Land, a unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp. that is best known for developing the Makati City financial district, still aims to derive most of its revenue from the Philippines in the coming years, Dy said.
In line with this, the company said Monday it was committed to reaching its new five year goal, dubbed the ‘‘2020-40’’ plan. This means the company aims to grow its profit to P40 billion by 2020, or an average profit growth of 20 percent per year.
‘‘Our goals are anchored on the aspiration that the economy will continue to grow at its current pace,’’ Ayala Land chair Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in his message to shareholders.
Ayala Land earlier disclosed a plan to spend P100 billion in 2015 to launch and complete new residential projects, commercial centers and office buildings across the Philippines.
Ayala Land hit a profit of P14.8 billion in 2014, up 26 percent, as revenue rose by 17 percent to P95.2 billion.
