SM group says offer to Ortigas stays

The group of retail tycoon Henry Sy remains keen on buying into the property holding firm of Ortigas family, a significant landlord in Metro Manila, despite a rival offer from Ayala Land Inc.

“Our offer stays. We’re still awaiting the formal decision. We haven’t seen anything formal yet,” SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy told reporters after the signing of a branding agreement with the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. group on Thursday.

Sy said the SM group had offered to buy a 34-percent stake in OCLP Holdings Inc., which was earlier offered for sale by British bank HSBC, the single biggest stockholder in the property holding firm.

SM Prime parent firm SM Investments Corp. negotiated to buy the stake held by HSBC and some family members ahead of ALI. However, members of the Ortigas family later decided to buy out HSBC’s stake for P11 billion and consolidated the family’s control of the holding firm.

Last week, one group within the family led by Ignacio Ortigas formed a “strategic” alliance with ALI.

It has been reported that the Ortigas family was divided on whether to side with Sy’s SM group or ALI as a strategic partner in the holding firm.

Sy said the SM group preferred to acquire a controlling stake but it would depend on whether the family would decide to offer the former HSBC stake to either SM or ALI.  Sources, however, said the 34 percent stake was under a “lock-up period.”

Aside from HSBC, it was earlier reported that some family members were  also keen on cashing out of the holding firm.

“Ayala may have gotten a reply but we haven’t,” Sy said.

For its part, Ayala Land Inc. said it was expecting to conclude “shortly” a partnership agreement with the Ortigas family.

Among the Ortigases’ crown jewels are the Capitol Commons mixed-use project in Pasig and the Greenhills commercial complex. The family holding firm has a landbank of 50 hectares spanning Quezon City, Pasig, San Juan and Mandaluyong.

Another 40 hectares of prime land can be added to its land bank, which include portions of Camp Crame (10 hectares) and Camp Aguinaldo (30 hectares), which were donated to the government years ago. The company, however, holds the right to buy back the property from the government. Doris C. Dumlao