ALI completes P523-M buyout of Ramos’ stake in Trinoma

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has completed its buyout of the Ramos family’s shares in North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp. (NTDCC), the owner and operator of the Trinoma commercial center in Quezon City.

ALI said Anglo Philippine Holdings Corp., the investment vehicle of t he Ramos family, has sold all its remaining shares in NTDCC for P523 million.

The shares consist of 382,072 common shares and 1.61 million preferred shares.

With the transaction, ALI successfully acquired Anglo Holdings’ entire 15.79 percent interest in NTDCC.

“This acquisition is aligned with ALI’s thrust of expanding its leasing business,” ALI said.

ALI’s stake in NTDCC now stands at 70.36 percent.

ALI last December already bought a portion (9.24 percent) of Anglo Holdings interest in NTDCC for P738 million.

A couple of weeks later, the property firm scaled up further its shareholdings in NTDCC by purchasing another 5.29 percent stake from other shareholders, namely DBH Inc. and Allante Realty and Development Corp.

Other significant NTDCC shareholders are Ramcar Inc. with 14.26 percent interest and Lafayette Holdings Inc. with 12.5 percent.

Aside from Trinoma, ALI is also behind large shopping malls including Greenbelt, Glorietta, Alabang Town Center and Market Market.

The transaction likewise concluded Anglo Holdings’ divestment of its stake in NTDCC.

In 2013, Anglo Holdings divested its minority 4.5 percent ownership in real estate firm Shang Properties Inc. through a special block sale.

With its remaining shares in NTDCC already sold, Anglo Holdings’ remaining investments will be in United Paragon Mining Corp., Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., The Philodrill Corp., MRT Development Corp., MRT Holdings Inc., Brightnote Asset Corp.  and Filipinas Energy Corp.

The company, led by National Bookstore owner Alfredo Ramos, purchased last year additional shares in United Paragon Mining for P36 million, increasing its stake in the mining firm to nearly 23 percent from its previous shareholdings of 21.81 percent.