Ayala Corporation to be the first REIT in the Philippines

With the new framework released last month, the government is hoping for more enterprises to apply

According to Nikkei Asian Review, Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corporation has registered to be the first real estate investment trust (REIT) in the country, expecting to raise around PHP15 billion (USD294 million).

Documents submitted to the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the corporation’s property arm Ayala Land will provide 478.64 million new and existing shares in the REIT, with each share to be priced at PHP30.05.

In 2009, the Philippines has already established a legal framework for registering REITs on the stock market, however, the stringent regulations have deterred most of them.

More: Newly-updated REIT framework to democratise the Philippine property market

With lenient restrictions published in January, the government is hoping for more developers to take the plunge, with Ayala leading the pack.

Ayala Land has already formed a trust called AREIT, which includes a city in the greater Manila region and a set of commercial buildings in Makati. After the listing, they have also planned to retrieve an office building in Cebu from a group company.

The money raised from the listing will be utilised to invest in new real estate projects.

Meanwhile, DoubleDragon Properties and their other rivals have shown interest in floating REITs, encouraging other investors in the market.