Megaworld to construct FactSet’s regional headquarters

MEGAWORLD Corp. will develop the P3- billion regional corporate headquarters of international financial services firm FactSet in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Andrew L. Tan-led developer said it closed the deal to build FactSet’s office tower in McKinley West during Megaworld officials’ recent visit to the company’s global headquarters in New York City.

“We are enthusiastic about this long- term lease deal which we closed in New York weeks ago. FactSet’s expansive presence, which will be headquartered in McKinley West, demonstrates its continued confidence in the country’s growing economy,” Megaworld Senior Vice- President for Business and Development Jericho P. Go said in a statement.

The 17-storey office tower will have 48,000 square meters of office space. Megaworld looks to finish construction of the building by 2020.

Founded in 1978, FactSet provides financial research solutions and investment analytic tools, among others. The company is listed both on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Composite Index. Its market capitalization was at $7.12 billion as of August 2016, according to its Web site.

FactSet has a total of 46 headquarters across 21 countries, with an employment base of 8,500 people.

“FactSet is delighted to expand our presence in the Philippines with this exciting milestone. The very skilled, talented, creative and hardworking FactSetters in our Manila facilities are instrumental to helping FactSet achieve our mission to solve our clients’ greatest challenges through the power of collaboration,” Megaworld quoted FactSet Chief Executive Officer Philip Snow as saying.

Megaworld emphasized the building will be constructed in accordance with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED) green building ratings program developed by the United States Green Business Council.

“We are really committed to building more LEED-certified office towers. We want to make our developments more sustainable. We are closely working with FactSet to finalize its requirements,” Mr. Go said.

For her part, FactSet Senior Vice- President Rachel Stern noted green buildings promote a healthy work environment.

“FactSet wants to stress the importance of having a state-ofthe-art ‘Green’ building to help promote a safe and healthy work environment. This is one of the reasons why we continue to be acknowledged as one of the top companies to work for,” Ms. Stern said in the statement released by Megaworld.

The listed firm has been bullish in developing office towers inside the Fort Bonifacio business district. Inside its P65billion Uptown Bonifacio estate, for instance, the company has just completed the construction of four towers, including its new corporate headquarters called the Alliance Global Tower.

In the coming years, Megaworld looks to finish another tower in Uptown Bonifacio with plans for the development of a sixth tower.

Megaworld saw a 10.8% jump in its attributable profit for the first half of 2017, following revenues of P23.24 billion which were driven by the positive performance of its office developments.

Shares in Megaworld climbed 1.72% or nine centavos to close at P5.32 apiece at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. —