Megaworld pledges to buy unsold Empire East shares

Businessworld - MEGAWORLD CORP., the middle-income property unit of business tycoon Andrew L. Tan, has pledged to buy shares of subsidiary Empire East Land Holdings, Inc. that will be left unsold after an upcoming stock rights offer.

“In connection with the one for four preemptive stock rights offering of Empire East, Megaworld, as the major and controlling stockholder of Empire East, has committed and undertaken to subscribe to its rights offer entitlement and to any rights offer shares not taken up by other shareholders,” the disclosure read.

“This will ensure that all 2.6 billion rights offer shares will be subscribed,” Megaworld added.

As of end-June, Megaworld held a 47.28% stake in Empire East, equivalent to 5.02 billion shares.

Empire East shareholders last month approved the preemptive stock rights offer, wherein the company will offer one new share for every four shares held by existing stockholders, in a bid to raise funds for land banking, project development, and general corporate purposes.

Proceeds from the stock rights offer, expected to amount to approximately P2.6 billion, will be used to fund Empire East’s estimated P3-billion capital budget this year.

The stock rights offering is expected to commence sometime in the third quarter, earlier reports showed.

Earlier this week, Empire East inked a joint venture with the Japan-based Okada Group for the development of a P45-billion upscale condominium complex in the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City, firming up its foray into luxury property development.

The developer is also one of many firms interested in the 120-hectare, state-owned Food Terminal, Inc. agri-indsutrial complex in Taguig City that is slated for bidding next month, having floated a P14-billion unsolicited offer for the property last year.

Empire East’s first-quarter net income rose by 48.13% to P34.71 million versus year-ago levels, supported by an uptick in the company’s real estate sales.

Total revenues went up by 23.88% to P700.08 million, while costs and expenses expanded by 24.52% to P672.33 million.

Megaworld shares plunged 4.87% to P2.15 yesterday, while those of Empire East fell by 3.37% to 86 centavos each.

For more details on Megaworld and Empire East projects, you may e-mail reby_ramirez@yahoo.com or contact her at 0922.883.9308 / 0916.4044.555 / 0919.699.3572 / 4044-534.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.

Megaworld creates RFO division

Philippine Star - Megaworld Corp., the country’s largest residential condominium developer, has created a Prime Properties Investment Group (PPG), a marketing division that exclusively handles all completed projects and ready for occupancy (RFO) properties.

Megaworld PPG vice president for sales and marketing Donna Racho said the group is set to change the RFO landscape by offering free interior design services to all buyers.

 “Through the years, there is a specific segment of our market that prefers RFOs more than pre-selling projects. And these buyers are usually the most sophisticated ones who want to personalize their units - from the cuts to the designs and furnishings. This is what we will be offering to them,” Racho said.

Racho explained that Megaworld has pre-selected the units that will be reserved as RFOs even during the construction phase. This, she said, would allow the company to forecast its inventory for pre-selling separate from RFOs.

The division will be on top in providing “unparalleled” after-sales services to Megaworld unit owners. It established an exclusive interior design team, composed of seasoned home designers, to address the needs of buyers who want to personalize their units. At present, clients may choose from Zen, Contemporary, and Modern Victorian designs for their units.

“We base our designs on their personality, lifestyle, color preferences and mood preferences,” said Megaworld PPG senior design head Fernando Buenavista.

Clients may also request the group to select, negotiate and purchase their preferred furniture, fixtures and appliances that suit their needs and budget.

Megaworld PPG may also assist RFO unit owners who want to lease or re-sell their properties. It will also ensure the safekeeping and maintenance of the units in the absence of the unit owners.

“This isn’t just all about revenues. We want to create a long-lasting after-sales service to our most valued clients. We want them to remember Megaworld. And the next time they want to invest for a property, Megaworld will be top of their minds,” she explained.

For more details on Megaworld projects, you may e-mail reby_ramirez@yahoo.com or contact her at 0922.883.9308 / 0916.4044.555 / 0919.699.3572 / 4044-534.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.

Megaworld Cebu project declared special ecozone

Mactan Newton, Megaworld Corp.’s 16-hectare township development in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, has been declared a special economic zone.

Proclamation No. 407, signed recently by President Aquino, put the enclave under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

Republic Act 7916, also known as the “Special Economic Zone Act of 1995,” grants owners of and locators in ecozones certain privileges, including tax incentives.

Foreign investors meeting the required amount of investments in the ecozones are granted permanent resident status, including their spouses and dependents, or children under 21 years old.

The PEZA is also authorized to issue working visas renewable every two years to foreign executives and other aliens working or doing business inside the zones.

Mactan Newtown is expected to be home of some of the top business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the country.

The five-story One World Center in Newtown, which is already completed, is fully equipped to meet the requirements of BPO offices. Four upper floors are for office spaces.

Another BPO-ready building, Two World Center, is now being constructed.

“Megaworld sees the growth opportunities of the BPO industry in Cebu. With this, we expect new BPO companies coming in as we offer the most modern BPO offices in this side of the country,” says Jericho Go, Megaworld’s first vice president for business development and leasing division.

For more details on Megaworld projects, you may e-mail reby_ramirez@yahoo.com or contact her at 0922.883.9308 / 0916.4044.555 / 0919.699.3572 / 4044-534.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.

Tan, Okada forge P45-B real estate deal on Entertainment City

RAPPLER - The upcoming casino-entertainment project in the reclaimed Manila Bay area is paving a way for different deals between and among local and foreign companies.

The latest is a P45 billion-worth deal between two existing franchisees: the Andrew Tan and Kazuo Okada groups.

On Monday, July 16, Andrew Tan-led Empire East Land Holdings disclosed that it has formed a joint venture with the Okada-led Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. and Eagle 1 Landholdings Inc. for the exclusive development of the high-end residential component of the Okada-led integrated resort.
Empire East will "take the lead with a majority stake in the development of a 12.95-hectare luxury residential resort condominium project in Entertainment City Manila. The high-end project will comprise more than 25 residential towers in several phases."

Real estate project
Empire East was previously the affordable arm of the group of Tan, who chairs Alliance Global. The main property unit of Tan is Megaworld Corp.

The casino-entertainment project, however, has made Empire East rethink its strategy.

"Empire East will compete with all the developers in the market including Megaworld. This is healthier rather than limiting ELI (Empire East) into one segment of the market. The market is very active now. ELI wants to have a piece of the high-end market as well," Empire East president Anthony Charlemagne Yu said in a statement.

Part of the P45 billion-worth Empire East residential project at the Entertainment City will be in the $4 billion total investment of the Okada group in the area.

Business deals
Tan-led Alliance Global, which has formed a deal with Malaysian casino firm Genting Berhad Lt, and Okada-led Universal Entertainment, are two of the 4 groups awarded by the casino regulator Pagcor the right to develop and build complexes at the Pagcor Entertainment City.

Previously, the Okada and another real estate developer, the Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Inc., are mulling a deal for the retail component of Okada's project.

Australian billionaire James Packer and Macau casino mogul Lawrence Ho have previously inked a deal with the Belle Corp., which is led by the Philippines' richest man, Henry Sy.

The fourth franchisee is Enrique Razon-led Bloombery Resorts.

Each franchisee is required to invest a minimum of $1 billion into their respective projects. Okada had promised to pour in $4 billion. 

For more details on Empire East projects, you may e-mail reby_ramirez@yahoo.com or contact her at 0922.883.9308 / 0916.4044.555 / 0919.699.3572 / 4044-534.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.

Andrew Tan's Empire East sets P20-B capex over 5 years

Philippine Star - Empire East Land & Holdings Inc., the middle-income residential property arm of tycoon Andrew Tan, is setting aside up to P20 billion over the next five years to accelerate product launches, put on stream new phases in ongoing projects, and tap into new growth opportunities as well.

In a briefing following the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday, Empire East president Anthony Charlemagne C. Yu said they are planning to roll out 5,000 new residential units this year as the company aims to double its reservation sales to P15 billion.

The firm expects net profit to rise 15 to 20 percent this year, Yu said.

In the first quarter this year, Empire East raked in reservation sales of P3.25 billion, an unprecedented growth of 121 percent from P1.47 billion the previous level. The figure is already more than 40 percent of Empire East’s reservation sales for the whole of 2011.

Notwithstanding the uncertainties on the global front, Empire East remains optimistic on the real estate sector given strong overseas remittances, increased revenues from the BPO sector, and a booming tourism industry, Yu said.

He said the company is committed to making home ownership an affordable and accessible reality by focusing on innovation, quality engagement, operational excellence and cost optimization.

Empire East is building Rochester, a combination of 10 mid- and high-rise buildings in Pasig City with a total of 2,100 residential units; and Kasara, a resort-inspired residential community near C-5 Road in Pasig.

With Kasara, the company hopes to tap an underserved market of Filipinos moving toward healthy, green and stress-free living. The project features 2,000 studios and one- to three-bedroom homes.

Other projects include Sonoma (the company’s second large-scale residential village in Sta. Rosa, Laguna), Pioneer Woodlands (a six-tower condominium project integrated into major mass transport systems) and San Lorenzo Place (a high-rise condominium building in Makati City).

Yu said funding for the capex will come from internally generated cash and proceeds from a planned pre-emptive rights offering.

Empire East hopes to raise P2.6 billion from the one-for-four stock rights offering. The shares to be issued will come from the P10 billion increase in the company’s authorized capital.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.

For more details on Rochester, Kasara and other Empire East projects, you may e-mail reby_ramirez@yahoo.com or contact her at 0922.883.9308 / 0916.4044.555 / 0919.699.3572 / 4044-534.

Megaworld raises $200M from bond offer

Tycoon Andrew Tan’s property development arm Megaworld Corp. has closed a $200-million offering of seven-year US dollar-denominated debt paper at a coupon rate of 6.75 percent.

The bond deal was priced Friday night near the earlier-stated indicative rate and was priced to yield 6.875 percent, said Lauro Baja, managing director for the Philippines at UBS, which arranged the deal.

The offering by Megaworld, an unrated issuer in the overseas debt market, was oversubscribed even without having to conduct a road show, Baja said. “This indicates investors’ confidence in Andrew Tan’s group,” he said.

Baja said about half of the debt issuance was taken up by Asian investors, mostly domiciled in Hong Kong and Singapore. The rest was snapped up by various global funds.

Megaworld’s return to the bond market was timely given the recent resurgence of global investor appetite on emerging market assets.

Megaworld last tapped the offshore bond market in July 2006 with a $100-million, five-year debt issue.

The lengthening of the maturity to seven years in this latest offering, Baja explained, showed how investors were increasingly comfortable with Megaworld’s creditworthiness. Baja also noted that in a span of a single week, Tan’s group raised $450 million in fresh funds in a mix of debt and equity deals.

Megaworld’s parent Alliance Global Group Inc. earlier sold P9.7 billion in treasury-held shares through a private equity deal with mostly foreign investors. Some of the shares sold were owned by Megaworld itself. UBS likewise arranged the previous equity deal.

Megaworld’s corporate notes will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. (SGX).

The property firm intends to use the net proceeds from the issue of the notes to refinance some of its outstanding indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.

The Megaworld group comprises foremost high-end property brand Megaworld and its associates Empire East Land Holdings and Suntrust Properties, which focus on medium-cost and affordable housing, respectively. The group is the developer of five live-work-play communities in Metro Manila—Eastwood City in Quezon City; McKinley Hill, McKinley West and the upcoming Bonifacio Uptown in Fort Bonifacio; and Newport City in Pasay City.

Over the last two decades, the Megaworld group has built more than 200 residential and office buildings with a total floor area of around 5.4 million square meters to become one of the country’s leading property developers.

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 11 2011

AGI nets P9.5B in 2010, up 40 percent

Its full year net income attributable to shareholders rose 44 percent to P6.9 billion from a year ago, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. Earnings per share based on net income attributable to shareholders during the period increased by 44 percent to P0.71 per share.

Property arm Megaworld Corp. contributed 40 percent to AGI's net of minority interest while non-real estate businesses consisting of consumer food and beverage and integrated tourism projects accounted for 60 percent.

"We believe that all our business units will continue to sustain their strong growth momentum in 2011," said AGI chair tycoon Andrew Tan.

"We are ready to fast-track our real estate developments and capture new growth opportunities in the tourism sector, especially with our investment in Global-Estate Resorts. Both real estate development and integrated tourism will be our main drivers of long-term value creation that is sure to benefit our shareholders," Tan said.

Lastly, FYI for related information on the new real estate law, RA 9646, please proceed to www.RA9646.com, the online repository of updated information on Real Estate Service Act of 2009 (RESA).

source: Inquirer, April 18 2011