Manny Villar joins REIT bandwagon
Manuel Villar Jr.
Billionaire Manuel Villar Jr.’s VistaREIT Inc. is joining other property tycoons in the growing real estate investment trust (REIT) sector, filing an initial public offering (IPO) to raise as much as P9.2 billion in April this year.
VistaREIT, led by CEO Manuel Paolo Villar, will allow investors to bet on the group’s portfolio of malls and office buildings.
The initial assets span 10 malls in Luzon and Cebu with a gross leasable area (GLA) of more than 220,000 square meters and two office buildings with GLA of about 36,370 sq m, according to its IPO prospectus dated March 18.
VistaREIT is offering 3.34 billion shares for up to P2.50 per share, plus an overallotment option for another 333.75 million shares for price stabilization activities.
The selling shareholders are Masterpiece Asia Properties, Manuela Corp., Vista Residences, Crown Asia Properties and Communities Pampanga. All these are subsidiaries of Villar’s listed flagship property company, Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.
Dividend yield
The shares will be priced on April 19 with the offer period to run from April 22 to 28, subject to regulatory approvals.
VistaREIT plans to list under the symbol “VREIT” on May 6.
VistaREIT, which is selling 44.5 percent to as much as 48.95 percent of its shares to outside investors, will have a market value of P18.75 billion at the indicative price.
The company provided a “base case” dividend yield of 5.6 percent in 2022 and 6.4 percent in 2023, the prospectus showed.
IPO proceeds will be mainly used to acquire Vista Estates projects in Mega Manila, Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Assets include Vista Mall Las Piñas (main), Starmall Las Piñas (annex), Starmall San Jose Del Monte, Vista Mall Pampanga, SOMO-A Vista Mall, Vista Mall Antipolo, Vista Mall General Trias, Vista Mall Tanza, Starmall Talisay, Cebu and Vista Mall Imus. They have occupancy rates ranging from 87 percent to 100 percent.
Underwriters
It also has two office buildings: Vista Hub Molino and Vista Hub BGC, with occupancy rates of 98 percent and 91 percent, respectively.
The IPO deal is led by underwriters BDO Capital & Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., RCBC Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp.
Abacus Capital and Investment Corp. is a participating underwriter while China Bank Capital acts as issue manager. INQ
