DoubleDragon Properties files P14.7-B IPO bid for REIT unit

Property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp. yesterday filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission an application to register an initial public offering (IPO) of up to P14.7 billion worth of shares of its real estate investment trust (REIT) DDMP REIT Inc.

DoubleDragon has infused the first six buildings in its single most valuable property portfolio—DD Meridian Park in Pasay City where the company’s headquarter office is—into DDMP REIT, which, in turn, will offer up to 6.54 billion worth of common shares to the stock market at P2.25 a share, according to the regulatory filing. This REIT basket also includes the land on which these buildings stood.

The base offer will consist of 5.94 billion common shares while 594.25 million common shares may be offered as overallotment.

This will mark the second REIT listing in the country after Ayala Land-sponsored AREIT Inc. raised the curtain for this new asset class last August. Based on the maximum price, this can be bigger than AREIT’s P13.6-billion offering.

DDMP REIT has mandated Credit Suisse, DBS, Nomura and PNB Capital to act as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners together with RCBC Capital, ICCP, Macquarie, Maybank Kim Eng and CIMB for the REIT IPO.

REIT is a corporation that primarily invests in income-generating real estate such as office spaces, shopping malls, service apartments and even hotels, hospitals and warehouses. It gives investors an opportunity to invest directly in the finished projects rather than the developer itself. This is meant to attract dividend-seeking investors because the REIT law requires the distribution of at least 90 percent of income as dividends annually. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA INQ