DoubleDragon gears up for P14.7 billion REIT offering

MANILA, Philippines — DoubleDragon Properties Corp., the listed property developer of Edgar “Injap” Sia II, is gearing up for its P14.7 billion REIT offering amid renewed optimism in the stock market on the back of the gradual recovery of the economy.

The company has prepared its REIT application with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Companies that own and operate income-generating real estate assets are considered REIT or Real Estate Investment Trust companies. These companies include offices, apartment buildings, hotels, warehouses, shopping centers and highways.

The REIT Act allows REIT companies to list and trade their shares of stock in the stock market as an alternative means to raise funds for property development and expansion initiatives.

For Double Dragon’s REIT, which is named DDMP REIT Inc., proceeds will be enough to construct about 425,000 square meters of building floor area which will further significantly increase the leasable portfolio and recurring rental revenues of the company.

Sia is optimistic that the DDMP portfolio will be a compelling offering given the prime location of the properties.

“The DDMP basket is seen to be a compelling REIT offering since it will include the land, a premier corner lot located along the main thoroughfares of Macapagal Avenue, EDSA Extension and Roxas Boulevard, where the first six completed buildings sit on. This feature is expected to be a game changer since the value of the prime double corner 4.75 hectare block of land with titled land ownership to be held in perpetuity should keep on appreciating decade after decade, a very important inclusion for both domestic and foreign investors,” Sia said.

He said that when there is underlying titled land ownership included in the REIT shares, the hard value will be intact even in the years to come.

“We see DDMP shares as a ‘pamana stock’ that even our future grandchildren will be happy to inherit,” Sia said.

In all, he said  2020 is a reset year, 2021 a recovery year, and 2022 to 2030 should be highly promising growth years.

“We are glad that REITs are now in place in the Philippines as this new avenue will have transformational effects for DoubleDragon as it will unlock the values of the string of prime hard assets that it has built and accumulated over the years. As DoubleDragon is set to REIT its leasable portfolio in tranches as they mature, these steps will boost its equity size each time in line with its goal of growing its total equity to P120 billion by 2030,” said DoubleDragon chief investment officer Hannah Yulo-Luccini.

Moving forward, the company is targeting to complete a leasable portfolio of 1.2 million square meters by 2022 spread across its core business segments.