AREIT shareholders OK property-for-share swap

AYALA-LED real estate investment trust AREIT Inc.’s property-for-share swap transactions with other Ayala-led firms moved closer to completion after it secured stockholder approval.

In a disclosure on Monday, AREIT said stockholders owning or representing a majority of its outstanding capital stock had greenlit the issuance of about 841.3 million primary common shares to ACEN Corp. units, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and its subsidiaries.

The shares, priced at P34 each, will be exchanged for four commercial buildings in Ayala Center Makati and Ayala Center Cebu, and a 276-hectare industrial land in Zambales, with transactions totaling roughly P28.6 billion.

The deal is expected to be closed by the third quarter of this year after approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission and relevant regulatory agencies.

AREIT said last November that the acquisition of prime commercial properties and the parcel of land was aligned with its expansion and diversification strategy.

The deals were also expected to provide AREIT shareholders with “the potential for long-term capital appreciation while earning guaranteed lease income on the property,” it noted.

“With [ALI’s] deep pipeline of commercial assets as well as other strategic properties in the Ayala Group, AREIT can have the capacity to grow immensely and attain a market presence on par with some of the REIT players in the region,” AREIT President and Chief Executive Officer Carol Mills said.

On Monday, AREIT’s share price dropped by 10 centavos to close at P34 apiece, while Ayala Land and ACEN’s share prices declined by 1.0 percent and 3.20 percent to P34.55 and P4.24, respectively.