Villar group-led memorial park developer Golden Haven Inc. is diversifying to be a property developer that caters not just to the dead but to the living as well, identifying mass housing as a new area of growth.
Golden Haven yesterday disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange the acquisition of housing developer Bria Homes Inc. for about 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 P20.09 each for a total subscription price of P3.01 billion.
“The company believes the 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 first hinted in mid-November when the company changed its corporate name, dropping “Memorial Park” from the original “Golden Haven Memorial Park Inc.”
Villar group founder Manuel Villar Jr. earlier said Golden Haven would henceforth cater “not just to the dead but also to the living.”
The subscription price for the common shares of Golden Haven—which is currently valued by the stock market at P9.88 billion—is based on its 30-day volume weighted average price in the PSE from Nov. 9 to Dec. 22 this year.
The issuance of new Golden Haven common shares to Cambridge is expected to be completed on or before Jan. 10, 2018.
The transaction will reduce Golden Haven’s public float from 14.84 percent to 11.38 percent.
Bria Homes, formerly Casa Regalia, has P7.92 billion in total assets as of end-2016. Real estate sales in 2016 amounted to P1.48 billion compared to P761.2 million in 2015. Net profit in 2016 stood at P270.74 million compared to P170.5 million in the previous year. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA