Robinsons Land Corp., the property unit of tycoon John Gokongwei, said Tuesday it acquired an 8.5-hectare property in Chengdu, China as part of its expansion overseas.
Robinsons Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its offshore subsidiary acquired the land use right to a property located in Chengdu.
“This property has an area of approximately 8.5 hectares. The property is intended to be used for the development of residential projects with a minor commercial component,” Robinsons Land said.
“This acquisition is in line with the normal course of RLC’s real estate business and its plan to explore opportunities internationally,” it said.
No other details were provided, including acquisition cost and timetable for the development.
Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan said Robinsons Land’s venture in China was a positive move for the company, despite concerns of possible slowdown in China’s economy.
“China’s economy is still growing at 6.9 percent, which is even faster than our own domestic growth. The slowdown in China may not be as bad as it seems,” Limlingan said.
Limlingan said other Philippine companies such as Jollibee Foods Corp. and SM Prime also continued to invest in China, even with the expected slowdown of the world’s second largest economy.
Share price of Robinsons Land jumped 2.24 percent on Tuesday to P31.90.
Robinsons Land, the real estate arm of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., is primarily engaged in the development and operation of shopping malls and hotels, and the development of mixed-use properties, office and residential buildings, as well as land and residential housing developments, including socialized housing projects located in key cities and other urban areas nationwide.
Another property firm, SM Prime Holdings Inc. of tycoon Henry Sy, is now in the process of completing the design of the residential projects and securing the necessary permits to enable it to start building the first two towers also in Chengdu.
SM Prime earlier said it would invest P1.5 billion to build the first two of the four-tower development in Chengdu.
The company, which also operates six shopping malls in China, expects to complete the project over the next two years.
SM Prime’s China condominium projects will offer bigger unit sizes of 40 to 50 square meters compared to an average of 24 sqm in its Philippine projects.
It plans to offer 2,000 condominium units for the four-tower project.