Golden Haven diversifies into mass housing

Manny Villar. FILE PHOTO

Villar group-led memorial park developer Golden Haven Inc. is diversifying to be a property developer that also caters to the living, identifying mass housing as its new area of growth.

Golden Haven disclosed on Thursday the acquisition of housing developer Bria Homes Inc. for around P3 billion via a share-swap transaction with the latter’s principal stockholder, Cambridge Group Inc.

Under the deal, Golden Haven will issue 150 million in new shares to Cambridge Group, proceeds from which will be used to acquire housing developer Bria Homes. The shares will be issued at P20.0935 each for a total subscription price of P3.01 billion.

“The company believes acquisition of Bria Homes Inc. will diversify its real estate business by entering into the mass housing market, accelerate growth and enhance profitability through the creation of additional revenue streams independent of its current business, allow the company to maximize the value of its land bank by providing other avenues for its utilization, and build shareholder value,” Golden Haven said in the disclosure.

The diversification was hinted in mid-November when the company changed its corporate name to drop “Memorial Park” from the original Golden Haven Memorial Park Inc. In a recent chat with reporters, Villar group founder Manuel Villar Jr. said Golden Haven would henceforth cater “not just to the dead but also to the living.”

The subscription price for the Golden Haven common shares was based on its 30-day volume weighted average price in the PSE from Nov. 9 to Dec. 22 this year, the disclosure said.

The issuance is undertaken pursuant to the stockholders approval for the issuance by way of private placement of up to 150 million shares last October, the disclosure said.

The issuance of new Golden Haven common shares to Cambridge is expected to be completed on or before Jan. 10, 2018.