Filinvest Land Inc. said it is converting unit Cyberzone Properties Inc. (CPI) into a real estate investment trust (REIT) company as part of its plan to raise funds through the REIT.
With this, Filinvet Land formally joins the REIT bandwagon which is currently occupied by Ayala Land Inc., through its listed AREIT Inc. unit and DoubleDragon Properties Corp., whose unit DDMP REIT Inc. unit has a pending application to list.
“CPI is intended to be listed on the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange) in compliance with the minimum public ownership requirements under Philippine securities regulations and the Real Estate Investment Trust Act of 2009 and its implementing rules and regulations and under such terms and conditions as Filinvest Land’s Board of Directors may subsequently approve,” it said.
CPI is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as an economic cone facilities enterprise which owns and operates the IT buildings in Northgate Cyberzone, located within Filinvest City. It was incorporated on Jan. 14, 2000 and began commercial operations on May 1, 2001.
The 18.7-hectare Northgate Cyberzone is home to the Philippines’ largest district cooling system to date that helps reduce energy consumption, provides greater efficiency, lowers the initial capital investment, reduces carbon dioxide emissions and enhances real estate value by freeing up building space for other uses, Filinvest Land said.
Filinvest Land said the converted REIT company will also include office buildings in Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu in Cebu City.
Together with other office space leasing units of the Filinvest Land group, Filinvest Land 43 operating and under construction office buildings covering over 824,000 square meteres of gross leasable area.
Filinvest Land said its business process outsourcing buildings have continued to be fully operational during the new coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and CPI’s office rental revenues increased by 16 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2020 to P2.46 billion.
“We are looking forward to listing CPI as a REIT company because we believe that this will unlock the value of our office leasing business. Filinvest has a growing portfolio of recurring income projects and significant prime office properties in Alabang, Cebu and Clark to continue to grow this business. A REIT listing will enable acceleration of the growth of this business line,” said Josephine Gotianun-Yap, Filinvest Land president.
