MANILA, Philippines — MREIT Inc., the soon-to-list real estate investment trust (REIT) of Andrew Tan-led Megaworld Corp., has moved its listing date from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1.
This is due to the strong demand, MREIT Inc. said in a disclosure yesterday.
“The overwhelming demand from investors who subscribed to the MREIT shares in the initial public offering has affected the timely completion of the lodgment of the shares with the Philippine Depository Trust Corp.,” MREIT said.
MREIT president and CEO Kevin Tan said the company is grateful for the introduction of REITs to the market. He also noted that MREIT’s offering was met with much optimism as seen in the overwhelming demand.
“This is a testament to the confidence of the investors and a reflection of the strength of the Philippine capital market,” Tan said.
MREIT is offering up to 1.2 billion shares, proceeds of which will be used to expand the Tan Group’s office portfolio.
Its final offer price of P16.10 per share translates to a projected 2022 dividend yield of 5.7 percent.
“This IPO was priced at an attractive level to provide IPO investors a compelling entry opportunity to become long term partners in MREIT’s goal of becoming the Philippines’ fastest growing REIT backed by the country’s largest office landlord. As a result, the institutional book building attracted strong interest from both long only foreign investors as well as domestic institutional investors,” said BDO Capital president Ed Francisco.
The estimated net IPO proceeds of P14.7 billion, together with the expected cash proceeds from the impending asset injection into MREIT by its sponsor, Megaworld, will be reinvested in 15 projects over the next 12 months.
MREIT’s initial portfolio of approximately 224,431 square meters consists of 10 prime office buildings in three of Megaworld’s most established township locations that are popular among the biggest BPO companies operating in the Philippines.
The company plans to grow its office asset size to one million square meters with the goal of becoming the largest REIT in Southeast Asia.
The target is to achieve this within the next five to 10 years as it aims to become the largest REIT in Southeast Asia.