MANILA, Philippines — Gokongwei-led developer Robinsons Land Corp. will inject P33.9 billion worth of assets into its real estate investment trust (REIT) arm through a property-for-share swap deal that involves 13 sites.
In a stock exchange filing on Thursday, RL Commercial REIT Inc. (RCR) said its board of directors, as well as that of Robinsons Land, had approved the proposed deal.
The transaction involves 11 malls and two office buildings that span a total of 347,329 square meters. Upon closing of the deal, which still requires regulatory approval, RCR’s gross leasable area will expand to 827,808 sq m.
In turn, Robinsons Land will subscribe to 4.99 billion of RCR’s primary common shares at P6.80 apiece. This is 31 percent above the REIT landlord’s closing price of P5.19 on Thursday.
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“The planned asset infusion will diversify our predominantly office asset portfolio with the inclusion of mall assets,” RCR president and CEO Jericho Go said in a statement.
“This is in line with RCR’s commitment to shareholders to continuously grow the company,” Go added.
Robinsons malls and Cybergate Davao
The assets included in the deal are Robinsons malls in Novaliches, Cainta, Luisita, Cabanatuan, Lipa, Sta. Rosa, Imus, Los Baños, Palawan, and Ormoc as well as Cybergate Davao—all for a total of 278,526 sq m.
Meanwhile, the office assets include Giga Tower in Bridgetowne Destination Estate in Quezon City and Cybergate Delta 2 in Davao They occupy a combined space of 68,803 sq m.
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“After the infusion, RCR will remain the Philippine REIT with the widest geographical reach, with assets in 18 key locations,” RCR said in its disclosure.
After the transaction, Robinsons Land will have 1.4 million sq m of remaining leasable mall spaces and 253,000 sq m of remaining leasable office spaces.
Robinsons Land’s earnings in the first quarter of the year swelled by 53 percent to P4.07 billion as all its business units registered growth.
Meanwhile, RCR saw its net income during the period inch up by less than 1 percent to P1.15 billion.