MREIT Inc., said over the weekend it will acquire six office properties from its parent firm Megaworld Corp. for P13.15 billion under a property-for-share swap deal.
The acquisition will increase MREIT’s portfolio by 157,000 square meters or 48 percent to 482,000 sq. m., the company said in a statement.
These properties include Two West Campus, Ten West Campus and One Le Grand in McKinley West; One Fintech and Two Fintech in Iloilo Business Park; and Davao Finance Center in Davao Park District.
Under the deal, MREIT will issue 926.16 million secondary shares to Megaworld at P14.20 per share. This represents a premium of 10 percent over MREIT’s closing price of P12.94 per share on May 10, 2024.
The purchase price was based on appraisal reports and validated by a third-party fairness opinion, which were presented to and approved by the company’s committee and board of directors.
The deal is still subject for approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The acquisition of these properties moves us closer to our target portfolio of 500,000 sq. m. by the end of 2024. This transaction not only supports the sustained growth of MREIT but is also dividend accretive to our shareholders. We are immediately working on the next set of acquisitions to reach our target assets under management before the year concludes,” said MREIT president and chief executive Kevin Tan.
Meanwhile, MREIT reported that it declared cash dividends of P0.2460 per share to its shareholders based on its distributable income in the first quarter 2024.
The dividends will be payable on June 14, 2024 to shareholders on record as of May 24, 2024. This brings MREIT’s dividend yield to 7.6 percent on an annualized basis, based on the closing share price of P12.94 per share on May 10, 2024.
MREIT’s portfolio covers 18 office properties located in four Megaworld premier townships. Since its initial public offering in 2021, MREIT has injected eight office buildings into its portfolio and grew its value by 25 percent to P62 billion.
Megaworld in April sold 40.65 million common in MREIT shares in preparation future property-for-stock swap deals.