Villar mulls real estate holding firm for IPO

The family of Sen. Manuel Villar is set to form a holding company for most of its real estate businesses, aiming to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) possibly in the second half of the year.

Stock market sources said the holding company may have an initial capitalization of P10 billion, as its incorporation papers are expected to be filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission either this week or next week.

The same sources said the holding firm may absorb listed firm C&P Homes Inc. which conducts significantly all real estate operations through two wholly-owned subsidiaries Household Development Corp. (HDC) and Palmera Homes Inc.

However, they said nothing is definite yet and that the Villar group is still in the process of sorting out which companies shall be folded into the holding firm.

Both HDC and Palmera Homes are engaged in the development and marketing of affordable homes under the brand name Camella. Another sister company is CrownAsia, the country’s largest builder of middle income homes.

Another sister firm Britanny Corp., which has carved out a name for itself for developing innovative homes for the upscale market, will not be absorbed into the holding firm, the sources pointed out.

The planned establishment of a holding company is part of a plan to raise additional funds for the development of the group’s real estate projects. Part of the plan is to sell the holding firm’s shares through an IPO or listing by way of introduction.

C&P Homes has earmarked P1 billion this year for the construction of more housing units as it seeks to further strengthen its dominant foothold in the socialized housing industry.

The company will launch 26 new projects located in eight cities and provinces — Quezon City, Makati City, Las Piñas City, Parañaque City, San Fernando in Pampanga, Gen. Santos City in South Cotabato, Laoag City in Ilocos Norte, and Naga City in Camarines Sur.

In its three decades of operations, C&P Homes has provided affordable homes for more than 150,000 families.

C&P Homes earlier said at least 90 percent of the holders of its floating rate notes (FPNs) agreed to swap them in exchange for a combination of dollar-denominated long-term notes and new shares of the company.

The offer is part of a restructuring plan approved by C&P Homes’ board of directors on Feb. 9 which provided for the purchase by the issuer of all the remaining outstanding FRNs issued by its wholly-owned unit C&P Homes International Ltd. C&P Homes said the FRN holders who gave their go-signal to the plan, accounted for $126.06 milion of the outstanding FRNs.

Under the plan, C&P Homes will issue $46.77 million worth of 15-year long-term notes and a total of 749.15 million new shares of stock at P8 per share to the FRN holders who accepted the exchange offer.

The FRNs, which are fully guaranteed by C&P Homes, totaled $133.47 million as of end-December last year. Holders of FRNs who did not accept the offer will be repaid in cash on a discounted basis.

C&P Homes chief financial officer Estrellita Tan said the transaction would drastically reduce the company’s debt and significantly strengthen its balance sheet, which in turn would give C&P Homes the flexibility to aggressively pursue various strategic options in the near- to medium-term.