Biz Buzz: Property deals

LAST year, the SM group bagged a deal to acquire a 9.7-hectare property in San Fernando, Pampanga, that used to host the “Paskuhan Village,” a year-long Christmas-themed park that showcases lanterns and other yuletide arts and craft.

This was after SM won the bidding conducted by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), an attached agency to the Department of Tourism. The price for the outright purchase of the defunct Christmas park was P10,000 per square meter, SM Prime Holdings senior vice president for commercial properties group David Rafael said.

The SM group is now looking at a mixed-use development for this property, which is right across the group’s mall in San Fernando, Pampanga.

“It’s still in the planning stage,” the SM executive said.

The group is likewise finalizing the masterplan for the large reclamation projects (300 hectares each) in the cities of Pasay and Parañaque. Once the land-sharing and other agreements have been finalized with the local government units, the plan will be submitted to the state-run Philippine Reclamation Authority. The next hurdle will be to get the imprimatur of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), chaired by the President.

On top of these, Rafael hinted of a prospective big property deal between SM and the Manila city government, but not in the form of another reclamation project.

Note that there have been rumors about Manila Mayor (and former President) Joseph “Erap” Estrada hatching big property privatization deals in the capital city. We have an idea on which plum property in Manila SM has locked its radar on: A bustling commercial neighborhood it’s no stranger to. With uncertainties surrounding the upcoming presidential and local government elections, the question isn’t “if” the SM group will get it, but “when.” As implied, it already has one foot in the door. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Less pork, less sports

LONG before the exposés on the pork barrel scam and the racket linked to the now-infamous Janet Napoles, there was one business segment which was benefiting immensely from it.

This sector—though no fault of its own—is now suffering withdrawal symptoms, with many solons having drastically cut down spending on such items.

We’re talking about sports equipment suppliers, or at least some big players.

Based on anecdotal evidence, it turned out that some of the big buyers are your friendly politicians putting up neighborhood basketball courts, sponsoring sports events and thus spending a lot on sporting goods.

It’s now a thing of the past. So, instead of wishing for more pork, we can only hope that rising consumer affluence as well as increasing consciousness on health and wellness will eventually make up for the slack in business. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Bank bets big

LATE last year, a large international bank took a gamble and lent a gaming firm a large sum for the latter to be able to complete its sprawling casino and report operation in Manila.

The loan raised more than a few eyebrows because, despite record low lending rates almost everywhere around the world, this gaming firm had to agree to pay an interest rate that was in double digits—and as everyone knows, higher lending rates are charged to firms which have higher risk profiles.

And to think, this interest rate (which is firmly priced inside the “junk bond” category) was imposed on a loan that is denominated in US dollars, and which had a tenor of five years.

In any case, this international bank (hint: a European financial giant) which took a leap of faith and bet its chips on this gaming firm took some extraordinary measures to make sure that its loan—ok, maybe “investment” is more appropriate—would be protected.

According to our source, this bank made sure its representative would be allowed to sit on the board of this gaming firm to make sure that its interests are looked after (a.k.a. to make sure it gets repaid).

More importantly, or source tells us that, before making this multimillion dollar junk bond-priced loan, this bank also insisted that it install an extra layer of financial controllers at the gaming firm (to which the borrower agreed… mainly because it had no choice). This means that all expenses of the gaming firm are scrutinized and pored over carefully by bank-appointed auditors before the money is dispensed.

On the upside, this extra layer of control means that all these rumored payoffs supposedly being made by this gaming firm don’t happen. Or at least not anymore, now that the bank is in charge of the purse strings. Daxim L. Lucas

MVP in Silicon Valley

IT’S NICE and chilly now in San Francisco and the rest of Northern California, but businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan was there last week not just to enjoy the weather.

Biz Buzz sources said Pangilinan, who heads Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and several of the country’s biggest companies, paid a visit to Silicon Valley for a round of meetings with some of the world’s biggest tech companies such as Apple Inc., Google and Youtube.

From what we’re hearing, the talks are in line with PLDT’s own “digital shift” as the traditional telecommunications business model is being disrupted by Internet-based platforms worldwide.

In this case, that could mean possible new partnerships and maybe even investments. The last time PLDT announced a visit to Silicon Valley, tie-ups with ride-sharing app Uber and home rental platform Airbnb soon followed.

Could another big-ticket partnership be in the works? Stay tuned for that. Miguel R. Camus

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