SMIC buys strategic stake in CREIT for ₱5 billion
The Sy family’s flagship SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) has come in as a strategic partner in Citicore Energy REIT Corporation (CREIT) with the acquisition of a 28.79 percent stake for ₱5 billion from shareholders led by billionaire Edgar Saavedra.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), CREIT said Philippine-focused pure-play renewable energy company Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC), together with its wholly owned subsidiary Citicore Solar Tarlac 1 Inc., sold a total of 1.88 billion common shares in the real estate investment trust CREIT.
The CREIT shares were sold at ₱2.6534 each, slightly lower than the March 26 close of ₱2.79 per share. The acquisition was done through a block sale at the opening of trading at the PSE on Wednesday, March 27.
This is not the first time the SM Group is investing in a firm controlled by Saavedra. The SM Group was a cornerstone investor during the initial public offering of Megawide Construction Corporation which catapulted Saavedra and his partners into the billionaire’s circle. The SM Group eventually divested its strategic stake in Megawide, which is one of the contractors of SM Development Corporation’s residential condominium projects.
CREIT is the largest renewable energy REIT landlord in the country having approximately 7.1 million square meters of gross leasable area.
“As part of our group-wide sustainability agenda to prioritize environmental responsibility and support a low- carbon economy, we are investing in CREIT to increase SM’S footprint in the renewable energy sector,” said SMIC President and CEO Frederic Dybuncio. CREC President and CEO Oliver Tan said, “We believe that the SM group’s entry and investment into CREIT and the partnership with CREC unlocks potential synergies given the energy requirements of the SM group.”