PSE clears P9.2-B IPO of Villar REIT

Manny Villar Jr.

Billionaire Manuel Villar Jr.’s VistaREIT Inc. (VREIT) is set to launch its P9.2-billion initial public offering (IPO) at the end of the month after bagging the approval of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Monday.

Villar’s entry into the real estate investment trust (REIT) segment will add to five other REIT companies listed on the local bourse. These are Citicore Energy REIT Corp., DDMP REIT Inc., Filinvest REIT Corp., MREIT Inc. and RL Commercial REIT Inc.

The company was earlier targeting to hold its public offering in April. According to the PSE, VREIT will now offer as much as 3.67 billion shares at a maximum offer price of P2.50 per share from May 30 to June 3.

The IPO shares will be priced on May 25 while the PSE trading debut of VREIT is targeted on June 15 this year.

Pool of assets

VREIT will allow investors to buy a stake in the Villar group’s massive portfolio of malls and office buildings.

Based on an earlier IPO prospectus, the initial VREIT assets include 10 malls in Luzon and Cebu with a gross leasable area (GLA) of over 220,000 square meters and two office buildings with GLA of about 36,370 sqm.

The selling shareholders are Masterpiece Asia Properties Inc., Manuela Corp., Vista Residences Inc., Crown Asia Properties Inc. and Communities Pampanga Inc., which are subsidiaries of Villar’s listed flagship property company, Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.

The offer itself will allow the public to own 44.5 percent to nearly 49 percent of the company. Assuming the top offer price, VREIT will have a market value of P18.75 billion on listing day.

VREIT’s mall assets are 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.

The malls have occupancy rates of between 87 percent and 100 percent, its prospectus showed.

The two office buildings are Vista Hub Molino and Vista Hub BGC, which have occupancy rates of 98 percent and 91 percent, respectively.

VREIT indicated a “base case” dividend yield of 5.6 percent in 2022 and 6.4 percent in 2023, the prospectus showed.

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. was tapped as participating underwriter while China Bank Capital will act as issue manager. INQ