MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust (REIT) arm of Megaworld Corp., looks at increasing by 44,100 square meters (sq.m.) its office space portfolio by next year.
MRET is looking to acquire from Megaworld Techno Plaza 1, One Fintech Place and Two Techno Place, using debt in a transaction eyed for completion by the first quarter of 2022.
Megaworld is looking at further infusing assets into MREIT by another 50,000 sq.m. in the second half of next year, in addition to an asset acquisition by MREIT which will increase the REIT’s portfolio by as much as 42.4 percent to 319,500 sq.m. from 224,430 sq.m. by end-2022.
MREIT closed its inaugural trading day on Friday up P0.60 per share from its initial public offering (IPO) of P16.10 per share.
The company raised P15.29 billion by selling to the public 949.84 million shares, divided into 844.3 million shares covering the primary offer and another 105.54 million shares covering the greenshoe option.
Kevin Andrew Tan, MREIT president, in a statement said it will also be injecting some of its prime office and commercial assets in Uptown Bonifacio into MREIT by 2023.
“This year alone, Uptown Bonifacio has close to 331,300 sq.m. of completed office and commercial projects. Another 70,000 sq.m. of prime office spaces are set to be completed in three years,” he said.
“These prime office and commercial assets can be potentially injected into MREIT. With BGC having the highest office rental rates among major business districts in the country, these fresh assets can truly bulk up MREIT’s portfolio, increase its rental revenues, and of course, grow the distribution yields for our investors,” Tan added.
MREIT’s initial portfolio consists of 10 prime office buildings covering around 224,431 square meters in Eastwood City, McKinley Hill, and Iloilo Business Park — three of the 27 mixed-use development or townships developed by Megaworld.
These township locations have been popular among the biggest business process outsourcing (BPO) companies operating in the Philippines, said Tan.
“So far, we have poured in an estimated P150 billion into these three townships in over a decade that has translated into more than 130,000 jobs in IT and BPO, retail, hotel and tourism, construction, and in various industries that form part of our townships,” Tan added.
Tan, who is also Megaworld chief strategy officer, earlier said Megaworld eyes MREIT to be the fastest growing REIT in Southeast Asia.
“We have still 1.2 million sq.m. of office space that we will be injecting into the REIT. In three years time will double the size of REIT… and will become one of the largest REIT in Southeast Asia,” he said.
Tan also said for the next two years, MREIT is set to declare 100 percent of its income as dividend compared to the mandatory 90 percent of unrestricted earnings as provided in the REIT law.
