BIZ BUZZ: The house to watch

A group led by veteran stocks analyst-turned fund manager Antonio “Anton” Jose Periquet, backed by investors that include some of the country’s top tycoons, is taking over local investment house AB Capital & Investment Corp.

While the Gaisano group will remain among the shareholders, Periquet’s team is getting the controlling stake, Biz Buzz learned.

This buy-in deal, which was just recently finalized, is seen to bring AB Capital to new heights. With the powerhouse of investors assembled by Periquet, AB Capital is positioning itself to be a more significant player in Philippine corporate dealmaking. It could be the “future KKR of the Philippines,” one observer opined.

To recall, American global investment company KKR has been very active in the Philippines in recent years, picking up key local assets even during the pandemic.

Periquet knows dealmaking by heart, having been both on the “sell” (stock brokerage) and “buy” (fund management) side. He started his career doing equity research, sales and trading for several firms in London, eventually joining Deutsche Bank as head of the Asian Equities desk. In 2000, he established Deutsche Regis Partners Inc., a joint venture with Deutsche Bank, which became the largest stockbroker in the Philippines.

After his retirement, he set up his own investment management firm and was invited to sit on the board of several listed companies.

With the financial muscle mustered by AB Capital, it will be the local investment house to watch.

—Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

REIT trail-blazer

Since raising the curtain for real estate investment trust (REIT) as a new asset class in the Philippines, notwithstanding the macroeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, investors who subscribed to its initial public offering (IPO) have been rewarded with a 44-percent stock price appreciation, not to mention the cash dividends paid to stockholders since then.

In 2020, AREIT paid out a cash dividend of P1.32 a share while P1.30 a share had been paid out so far this year.

As of yesterday, AREIT’s stock price stood at P38.90 from its IPO price of P27 per share. It is now valued by the stock market at P39.74 billion.

Recently, AREIT bagged the “Most Outstanding IPO in the Philippines” award from financial publication Asiamoney, which surveyed 1,071 fund managers, analysts, bankers and ratings agencies.

Also, AREIT debuted on the FTSE EPRA Nareit Asia ex-Japan REITs 10-percent capped Index effective Sept. 20. This index has a net market capitalization of $55.43 million and is composed of 28 constituents generating an average dividend yield of 5 percent as of Aug. 31. It includes various REITs in Asia, excluding Japan, that are engaged in data centers, diversified portfolio, health care, industrial, industrial and office-mixed, lodging or resorts, office, residential and retail.

The index is part of the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Real Estate Index Series, which incorporates REITs and real estate holding and development companies covering global, developed and emerging indices, as well as the UK’s alternative investment market.

AREIT blazed the trail anew as this was the first Philippine REIT to be included in this index. Hopefully, more Philippine REITs will be included in the future.

AREIT currently has 344,000 square meters of gross leasable area and total assets under management of P37 billion. With its planned asset infusion, the portfolio is expected to expand to 549,000 square meters with AUM of P52 billion.

— Doris Dumlao-Abadilla