Property developer Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) is set to inject 11 shopping malls and two office assets worth P33.91 billion into its real estate investment trust firm RL Commercial REIT Inc. (RCR) via a property-for-share swap deal.
Under the deal, RLC will infuse 11 commercial centers with 278,526 square meters (sq. m.) of leasable space and two office buildings with 68,803 sq. m. to RCR.
RLC, in exchange, will subscribe to 4.987 billion primary common shares of RCR at a price of P6.80 per share.
These malls include Robinsons Novaliches, Robinsons Cainta, Robinsons Luisita, Robinsons Cabanatuan, Robinsons Lipa, Robinsons Sta. Rosa, Robinsons Imus, Robinsons Los Baños, Robinsons Palawan, Robinsons Ormoc and Cybergate Davao.
The two office assets are Giga Tower in the Bridgetowne Destination Estate, Quezon City and Cybergate Delta 2 in Davao City.
RCR said the assets were selected based on its investment criteria of maximizing dividend yield accretion through the infusion of high-quality commercial properties that complement the company’s existing portfolio of 16 premium assets.
“The planned asset infusion will diversify our predominantly office asset portfolio with the inclusion of mall assets. This is in line with RCR’s commitment to shareholders to continuously grow the company,” said RCR president Jericho Go.
The asset infusion will increase RCR’s total gross leasable space (GLA) by 347,329 sq. m., bringing its total GLA to 827,808 sq. m.
RCR has the widest geographical reach among listed REITs in the Philippines, with assets located in 18 key cities and provinces.
“The transaction shall be subject to the approval of pertinent regulatory bodies and will be presented for approval in a special shareholders meeting,” RCR said.
The company aims to secure regulatory approvals for the property-for-share swap within the year.
RCR posted stable financial results in the first quarter of 2024, with total unaudited revenues amounting to P1.43 billion. Net income in the quarter amounted to P1.12 billion, translating into a net margin of 79 percent.
After the infusion, RLC’s investment portfolio includes 1.4 million sq. m. of leasable mall spaces, about 253,000 sq. m. of remaining leasable office spaces, 26 hotels with a total of 4,243 room keys and 244,000 sq. m. of leasable logistics facilities.
