D.M. Wenceslao eyes gov’t infra projects
Public listing aspirant D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Incorporated (DMWAI), an integrated construction and real estate developer, plans to diversify its business outside the 107-hectare flagship project Aseana City by bidding for government infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build program.
“We are an ‘AAAA’ general contractor, one of less than 20 in the country, and are in a position to take advantage of the government’s massive infrastructure program, especially in our core areas of horizontal infrastructure and construction, foundation works and marine construction,” DMWAI chief executive officer Delfin Angelo Wenceslao said in a statement.
The company has completed more than 100 construction and infrastructure projects. It reclaimed the land where it is building Aseana City and the land that hosts Solaire of Bloomberry, West Side City of Travellers International Hotel Group and City of Dreams Manila of Belle and Melco groups.
Wenceslao did not disclose the projects he was considering. Within Aseana City, DMWAI has several projects in the pipeline, including the mall being put up by Ayala Land next to Solaire and City of Dreams Manila.
When DMWAI sells or leases land in Aseana, it negotiates to have the first right to build for the buyer or the lessee, or the right to match the lowest bid of contractors, he said.
“We also have our own projects in Aseana which, in the future, will be a central business district within the huge development encompassing the Entertainment City, Mall of Asia, the Senate and various other developments,” he said.
DMWAI had helped the government reclaim 2.04 million square meters in the Manila Bay area, paving the way for the rise of a new commercial business district.
The company currently owns some 568,000 square meters of reclaimed land for its flagship project at the 107-hectare Aseana City. Of these, about 292,000 sqm are yet to be allocated and still available for development. It also has 208,000 sqm of land in other parts of the country.
DMWAI is pitching to investors its wide range of expertise—survey and planning, foundation works, engineering, and architectural and project management services—allowing the firm to provide its customers one-stop solutions.
DMWAI has three residential and six commercial developments under way in Aseana.
The company aims to pursue a P15.5-billion initial public offering (IPO) in the first semester, reviving a capital-raising initiative first hatched three years ago. It has filed a new prospectus at the Securities and Exchange Commission for the offering of up to 679.2 million shares, or about 20 percent of the company’s total issued shares, to the public.
The maximum price per share is P22.90, based on the prospectus. At least 70 percent of the shares will be offered to offshore investors. Subject to regulatory approval, controlling shareholder Wendel Holdings Co. has granted Maybank, in its role as stabilizing agent, the right to buy up to 101.87 million additional shares at the offer price.
