Alphaland okays follow-on offering

MANILA, Philippines - Alphaland Corp., a publicly-listed property firm led by the group of former Trade Minister Roberto V. Ongpin, has approved a follow-on offering of shares in the third quarter this year to boost its public float.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Alphaland said the share sale is aimed at complying with the bourse’s 10-percent minimum public ownership requirement.

At the same time, the company’s board approved the issuance to DM Wenceslao & Associates Inc. of 147.375 million common shares, representing 9.35 percent of Alphaland’s outstanding capital, at P10 per share.

The board also approved the issuance of a total of 408.15 million shares in favor of some existing shareholders at P10 per share, payable by previously paid deposits.

As these existing stockholders are related parties to the company, the issuances will be submitted for approval of stockholders during the annual meeting of Alphaland in May.

Should the company obtain the required stockholders’ approval of the issuances, Alphaland’s resulting shareholder structure will be Alphaland Holdings (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., 38.66 percent; Masrickstar Corp. (35.75 percent), Boerstar Corp. (8.46 percent), DM Wenceslao (7.43 percent), RVO Capital (7.19 percent) and Azurestar Corp. (1.69 percent).

Alphaland has earmarked at least P16 billion until 2014 for four new real estate projects. For this year, the company will be spending P3 billion for its capital expenditures, higher than 2010’s budget of P2.2 billion.

The company is developing the P6-billion Makati Place which will include a members-only recreational club called The City Club (which will be ready by end-2012 with membership shares at P500,000 each) as well as residential towers and a mall; the P3.5-billion Makati Tower which will be an upscale office building; and the 424-hectare Balisin Island Resort in Atimonan, Quezon.

Also in the pipeline is the 34-hectare Bay City project to be located near SM Mall of Asia and will have a marina/yacht club.