First Pacific accepts $105-M offer for 50.4% stake in Boni Land

Hong Kong-based First Pacific Corp. has finally agreed to sell its 50.4 percent stake in Bonifacio Land Corp. (BLC) for $105 million to the consortium of Ayala Land and Greenfield Development Corp., The STAR learned yesterday.

Ayala and Greenfield, owned by Jose Yao Campos, are scheduled to sign the agreement with First Pacific subsidiary Metro Pacific Corp. (MPC) expectedly on Monday for their assumption of a $105-million loan (principal plus interest) extended by Larouge BV to MPC. The loan was secured by 50.4 percent of Bonifacio Land’s outstanding stocks and fell due December 2001.

But even before the agreement was finalized, MPC president Manuel V. Pangilinan already presented the offer to First Pacific in Hong Kong, where the board deliberated on it.

First Pacific’s approval was in effect a go-signal for MPC and the Ayala-Campos consortium to proceed with the signing next week, officials told The STAR.

Ayala Land and Greenfield will contribute an equal amount or around P2.5 billion each for the majority stake in Bonifacio Land.

By acquiring a majority stake in Bonifaco Land, the Ayala-Campos group will control Metro Pacific’s biggest asset – the Fort Bonifacio Global City. Metro Pacific has an 80 percent interest in BLC.

Last June, First Pacific entered into an agreement with the Gokongwei group for the latter to acquire a significant portion of its stake in BLC and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), but opposition from the PLDT board and management and the resulting inability of First Pacific to meet the conditionalities of the agreement gave the Gokongweis no choice but to withdraw their offer.

While there had been other parties that had expressed interest in Bonifacio Land, it was only Campos who made a serious offer, at first in partnership with businessman Antonio O. Cojuangco, and then later, with the Ayalas.

An agreement between Metro Pacific and the Ayala-Campos consortium, however, will still need approval from First Pacific, which also owns Larouge BV.

While showing very little interest before to the Ayala-Campos offer, First Pacific has now realized the practicality of selling its stakes in BLC and PLDT separately, since it will be difficult to find another buyer who would be interested in acquiring both. First Pacific is selling its stakes in BLC and PLDT to raise funds to pay off maturing debts.

The acquisition by the consortium of a controlling stake in Bonifacio Land will mean that it will have a big influence over the development of the Global City since it will be represented in the FBDC board. All development contracts at the Global City need approval of the FBDC board.

A number of big real estate companies are already positioning themselves at the Global City in anticipation of a boom in business activities there especially once the Philippine Stock Exchange transfers its headquarters a few years from now.

Some of these companies include Robinsons Land, Sta. Lucia Development Corp., and SM Properties. Just last week, Ayala Land and Greenfield have entered into an agreement with FBDC to extend an P8-billion loan for the development of certain portions of the Global City.