From Inquirer.net

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. is embarking on a property-for-share deal that will boost its stake in real estate logistics and industrial estate developer AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. (ALLHC) to 72.25 percent.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, ALI said its subsidiary Avida Land would acquire 264.53 million shares of ALLHC from Orion Land Inc. in exchange for a parcel of land in South Park District, Muntinlupa City.

Subsequently, Avida will sell the 264.53 million shares—equivalent to 5.3 percent of the firm’s 4.98 billion outstanding shares—to ALI.

In a separate disclosure, ALLHC said its executive committee had approved the issuance of 49.44 million new shares to Orion Land for P2.92 a share. After acquiring these shares, Orion Land will sell the 264.53 million shares to Avida.

This deal allows ALI to consolidate its control of ALLHC, formerly known as Prime Orion Properties Inc. (POPI).

Orion Land owns a commercial building composed of a five-storey shopping center and a six-storey business processing outsourcing office with a gross leasable area of 60,000 square meters located along National Road, Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

For the quarter ending March, ALLHC chalked up a net profit of P148.3 million, 2.5-percent higher year-on-year due to the performance of Laguna Technopark Inc., which was consolidated into the group starting May 2018, alongside improved leasing income from commercial properties.

ALLHC’s first-quarter revenues amounted to P985.4 million, 454-percent higher than the previous year. It is currently valued by the stock market at around P16.34 billion.

A prime developer of industrial parks, Laguna Technopark owns and manages the 460-hectare industrial park that spans portions of the cities of Santa Rosa and Biñan in Laguna. It also owns and operates the 118-hectare Cavite Technopark in Naic. These industrial parks have been the preferred locations of local and foreign manufacturing, processing logistics and distribution companies in the Philippines. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla