The share of DDMP REIT, the real estate investment trust company of businessman Edgar Sia II, ended flat in its stock market debut after a P14.7-billion initial public offering.
DDMP, which is primarily into office leasing business, sold 5.942 billion common shares with an over-allotment of 594.2 million share at P2.25 apiece.
Share price opened at P2.26 and hit a high of P2.40 before closing at P2.25. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 0.8 percent on Wednesday.
Philippine Stock Exchange president Ramon Monzon said DDMP REIT attracted strong interest from retail investors with a record 12,074 small local investors participating in the IPO.
The company’s listing was pushed back by a day because of the heavy volume of subscribers in the maiden share offering.
“Listing during a pandemic is definitely not a walk in the park, but we believe this is our share of also promoting a more inclusive economy, and that what we can achieve together now during these challenging, never-been-chartered territories, brought about by this pandemic, despite those challenges, your DDMPR team will still continue work hard to lift the company to greater heights while further solidifying its foundation year on year,” Sia, who is also the chairman of DDMP REIT, said.
The DDMP REIT failed to match the strong first-day performance of the two companies owned by Sia—DoubleDragon Properties Corp. and MerryMart Consumer Corp. The shares of both DoubleDragon and MerryMart hit the ceiling on their first trading day, jumping 50 percent.
The portfolio of DDMP includes six office towers with retail components within DD Meridian Park in Pasay City. The company’s leasing spaces cater to a mix of tenants, such as business process outsourcing companies, government agencies and corporate locators.
DDMP REIT is the second REIT company to conduct an IPO at the PSE, after AREIT Inc. of Ayala Land Inc.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the successful REIT listings during the Duterte administration showed the strong investors’ confidence in the ability of the country to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Dominguez said the reforms initiated by the government to fix the flawed regulatory framework under the over decade-old Real Estate Investment Trust Act cleared the way for this “powerful financial mechanism” to broaden access to investments and become an indispensable tool in rebuilding the economy.
“I commend DoubleDragon’s remarkable business acumen and resilience amid these challenging times. As with the previous initial public offerings made during the pandemic, DoubleDragon’s REIT listing reflects the strong confidence of our investors in our economic recovery,” Dominguez said.
He said that while the economy remained largely on lockdown last year, DoubleDragon was able to successfully launch the IPO of its MerryMart Consumer Corp., a retail company principally engaged in the operation of grocery stores.
“Today, we deliver again to our economy a powerful financial mechanism to further broaden access to investments and promote greater financial inclusion for the Filipino people,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez said that when the REIT Law was passed in 2009, no company found its terms attractive, owing to what property players cited as friction costs, minimum public ownership requirements, and taxes as obstacles for the REIT to flourish in this country.
It was the Duterte administration that “took on the challenge of crafting a regulatory framework for this financial instrument that is right for the country,” Dominguez said.
He said the Duterte administration also ensured that all shareholder proceeds from REIT offerings would be retained within the domestic economy and used to drive the country’s growth.
