GT Capital completes property firm buy-in

MANILA, Philippines - GT Capital Holdings Inc., the investment arm of the family of tycoon George Ty, has finalized the acquisition of a 22.68 percent stake in Property Company of Friends (PCF) for P7.24 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, GT Capital said the stake was acquired for P398.1 each share

The conglomerate has the option to increase its direct shareholding in PCF to 51 percent within the next three years.

“The parties have agreed to cede majority control of PCF to GT Capital,” the listed holding company said.

A subsidiary of the Pro-friends Group, PCF focuses on the low-cost and economic housing segments, and retail and office space leasing.

The company, which was established in 1999, has built and sold over 36,000 affordable homes in the provinces of Cavite and Iloilo, with Lancaster New City as its flagship and largest project spanning the areas of Kawit, Imus, and General Trias in Cavite.

Another major project of PCF is the Bellefort Estates in the cities of Bacoor and Dasmariñas in Cavite province.

Bellefort Estates is a township development with close proximity to the newly opened Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway that connects to the South Luzon Expressway.

Ongoing projects include the Parc Regency Residences in Iloilo Province and the Carmona Estates in Carmona, Cavite Province.

PCFI chairman Guillermo Choa said the company decided to sell its stake to GT Capital because it believes the partnership would strengthen the property company.

“The low-cost housing segment is the real sweet spot in the country’s property sector, with a supply shortage of over three million homes, which continues to grow annually. Our partnership with GT Capital will strengthen our ability to be a leading player in serving this urgent market need,” Choa said.

He also said the potential synergies of working with other component companies in the GT Capital group would enable the company to offer its live, work, learn, play, and worship estates to many more middle income Filipino families.

GT Capital chairman Francisco Sebastian said with the acquisition, the company hopes to become a market leader in the low-cost housing sector.

“We view this acquisition as a mutually beneficial partnership for both parties. PCF has the product expertise and the strategic land bank, while GT Capital has the financial resour-ces and access to capital. Our partnership adds a new dimension to GT Capital’s property development portfolio and will enable our group to be one of the market leaders in the low-cost housing sector,” Sebastian said.

The investment complements the projects of GT Capital’s mid-to-high end property subsidiary Federal Land and expands the group’s presence in the property market.

GT Capital is a listed major Philippine conglomerate with interests in market-leading businesses such as banking, automotive, power generation and property development.

Aside from Federal Land, the companies under the group are Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation, Toyota Manila Bay, Toyota Cubao, Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp. Global Business Power Corp., Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp. and Charter Ping An Insurance Corp.