Philrealty okays P236-M deal with Meadowmere

Philippine Realty & Holdings Corp. (Philrealty) has reached an agreement with creditor Meadowmere Resources Corp. for the full settlement of loan obligations amounting to P236.09 million by way of conversion into equity.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philrealty president Amador Bacani said the company will issue 236.09 million common unsubscribed shares to be taken out of its authorized capital. 

Meadowmere acquired the debts from Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.

Earlier this month, Philrealty secured the rehabilitation court’s approval of its dacion en pago agreement with Bank of the Philippine Islands to settle P168.53 million worth of loans.

Philrealty is swapping some of its office condominium units at the PSE Centre in Ortigas and a property in Lucena City in exchange for the settlement of its debt to BPI.

The listed property developer is hoping to bring down its debt to less than P100 million by the end of the year through payment-in-kind scheme.

From P829.5 million in 2006,Philrealty has managed to bring down its debt to just P532 million at the end of 2007, using cash generated from the sale of a lot in

Fort Bonifacio and proceeds of a joint venture of another lot in the former military complex dubbed Icon Residences, a twin 34-story luxury residential condominium building.

The Icon Residences is now more than 90-percent sold and is slated for completion by the end of 2009.  It is in partnership with Xcell Property Ventures Inc.

With cash of more than P300 million, Philrealty is preparing for the resumption of construction of the Andrea North Skyline Tower with completion targeted by the end of 2009.

The three-tower Andea Skyline is located at a 2.8-hectare property in New Manila, Quezon City which was formerly the site of the Pepsi-Cola plant.

It will be similar to its upscale Alexandra residential condominium complex in Ortigas.

The first tower of Andrea North is estimated to cost over P900 million which will be funded by proceeds of the sale of remaining 105 unsold units with a current selling total selling price of P1.28 billion.

Philrealty is confident it can finally complete the Andrea Skyline project with the additional cash to be received from its joint venture with Xcell.

The company’s strategy is to enter into joint ventures whereby it will merely contribute the land and other pre-development expenditures while the partner will shoulder the cost of construction of the building.

Other projects in the pipeline include a boutique residential subidivision or a warehouse park in San Fernando, La Union; a condominium resort in San Juan, La Union; and a retail strip in Lucena City, Quezon.