Investing Stocks in Philippines: Philippine Navy

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Stock News 2013: SC stops BCDA from bidding Boni lot

A part of Malacañang Palace viewable through windows at the west side of Saint Jude Catholic School. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Supreme Court has stopped the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) from bidding out the Bonifacio South Pointe project, giving weight to the petition of SM Land Inc., which has a pending unsolicited proposal to acquire and develop the property.

A BCDA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the issuance of an injunction by the high tribunal, adding that the temporary restraining order was issued last Thursday.

“It did not specify how long the TRO would be in effect, so it’s indefinite,” the official said.

SM Land—the property development arm of the SM group of tycoon Henry Sy Sr.—gave an unsolicited proposal for the 33.1-hectare parcel of land on the southern edge of the former Fort Bonifacio military camp as early as 2009.

Under the law, an unsolicited proposal would be subjected to a so-called Swiss challenge where other interested firms would be asked to submit other bids, which the original proponent (in this case, SM Land) would have the right to match and consequently win the bid.

The government invited other parties to better SM Land’s bid of P36,900 a square meter in August 2010, but the entire process was put on hold after Malacañang decided to reject the unsolicited proposal and go for an open bidding. At the time SM made the bid, the property’s value was assessed at P9,000 per square meter.

According to Inquirer sources, the case was filed “reluctantly” by SM Land before the Supreme Court but that the firm felt that its interests had to be protected.

“I understand the company was hesitant to sue because it wants to help the government as much as possible,” said an industry official familiar with the issue. “But I guess SM had to serve notice—including to other potential bidders—that there is a pending [unsolicited proposal] process.”

The Inquirer tried to contact BCDA president Arnel Casanova but he has not replied as of press time. SM officials declined to comment on the issue.

BCDA earlier said, however, that SM Land would be invited to participate in the planned fresh bidding despite its unsolicited proposal having been rejected.

Under the BCDA’s original plan, a pre-bid conference would be conducted on Jan. 17 and the final bidding in mid-February. The government has set a base price of P13.26 billion for the property, which currently houses the Army Support Command, the Army’s Special Services Unit, and the Bonifacio Naval Station shared by the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Marines.

The original SM bid would have pegged the entire property’s value at P12.2 billion.

http://business.inquirer.net/102313/sc-stops-bcda-from-bidding-boni-lot

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Stock News 2012: BCDA awaits Palace okay on sale of prime properties

Fort Bonifacio 7 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)State-run Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) said it is awaiting Malacañang’s approval of its plan to dispose prime properties.

The sale of idle state assets in the sprawling Fort Bonifacio complex in Taguig will generate as much as P40 billion in revenues for the government, its top executive said.

“We are still waiting for the approval of the President on our disposition plans,” BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Paciano D. Casanova said.

“We have met with the Executive Secretary already and with the Department of Finance representative so we expect the asset disposition plan to be approved within the month,” he added.

BCDA plans to sell the 33.1-hectare military lot in South Bonifacio and another 25-hectare lot also in Taguig.

Casanova said the proposal sent to Malacañang lists all the properties the agency wants to develop or sell.

“For Fort Bonifacio, we are hoping to dispose the property. We could expect about P35 billion to P40 billion,” Casanova said.

In 2010, SM Land Inc., which handles the SM Group’s commercial property development, submitted a P47.9-billion unsolicited offer to develop the 33.1-hectare military lot.

But the potential Swiss challenge did not push through as the offer underwent reviews by the new administration.

“We have submitted our recommendation to the President and it is one of those issues we submitted to him,” Casanova said, refusing to give more details on the asset sale.

But he said the goal is for the government to receive the best value for the land.

“The general policy really is competitive bidding because the assumption is the interplay of market forces would create the best value for the property,” he said.

The South Bonifacio property consists of lands partly occupied by the Army Support Command and Special Services Unit of the Philippine Army, and the Bonifacio Naval Station and Philippine Marine Corps of the Philippine Navy.

Casanova said they are also looking at some strategic landbanking, which involves prime lots being offered for leasing.

Meanwhile, he said idle assets also in economic zones like in Clark Field in Pampanga are not for sale but are open for lease and development deals.

Other assets of BCDA include the Clark Ecozone, Poro Point, John Hay Special Economic Zone and the Bataan Technopark.

The approval of the asset disposal plan will allow BCDA to top its performance last year.

Casanova said the agency was not able to sell any land last year.

Last year, BCDA signed a deal allowing the Metro Pacific-led Manila North Tollways Corp. to manage and operate the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway for 33 years.

“Now we want to dispose major properties in the area to capitalize on the confidence of the market,” Casanova said.

Following the financial crisis, property developers have been launching projects at a brisk pace to take advantage of robust demand from the residential, office and retail sectors.

Casanova said higher investor confidence will benefit the property sector, particularly the office segment, as businesses expand in the country.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=802925

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Stock News 2010: SMDC eyes P5 billion from rights offer

Image via Wikipedia

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the residential property arm of retail tycoon Henry Sy’s listed holding firm SM Investments Corp., will undertake a stock rights offering to shareholders to raise at least P5 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMDC said its board approved the issuance of 1.83 billion new shares to beef up its landbank and fund its projects.

Shareholders can avail of one right for every three shares held as of a record date yet to be set by the company.

SMDC stocks closed at P7.26 each yesterday, slightly lower from Tuesday’s close of P7.30.

SMDC is planning to acquire properties in Cebu and Davao to tap a wider clientele base, particularly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Its affiliate, SM Land, has offered nearly P48 billion to develop a 33.1-hectare lot south of Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City into a mixed-use complex. Under the government’s joint venture rules for such Swiss challenges, SMLI will bag the contract if it can match the highest counter-offer.

The property is composed of lands presently occupied in part by the Army Support Command (ASCom) and Special Services Unit (SSU) and in part by the Bonifacio Naval Station and Philippine Marine Corps of the Philippine Navy.

Under the Bonifacio South master plan for the lot, the area would be developed into a medium- to high-density residential and mixed use complex with a strong institutional component, and has a maximum allowable gross floor area of 1.355 million square meters.

Last May, SMDC raised P10 billion from the issuance of corporate notes, which was more than three times oversubscribed by domestic institutional investors.

In the first half of the year, SMDC said its net earnings rose 24 percent to P1.3 billion on higher sales from its condominium projects. Revenues jumped 77 percent to P4.1 billion while net recurring income from real estate operations grew 47 percent to P1.1 billion.

SMDC raised P12.4 billion from pre-selling activities during the period, mainly coming from the Princeton, Light, Jazz, Sun and Wind projects under the SM Residences brand.

As of end-June this year, SMDC had 13 residential projects in the market. The company launched its affordable housing brand, My Place, with its pilot project in South Triangle on Panay Avenue in Quezon City.

The new project, My Place South Triangle, involves four condominium towers offering a total of 3,000 units with sizes ranging from 20 sqm to 40 sqm. Slated for completion in the first half of 2013, the project is estimated to cost around P2 billion.

Donnabelle L. Gatdula

September 9, 2010

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=610232&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Monday, September 6, 2010

Stock News 2010: 6 firms challenge SM bid for Boni South

A Philippine Air Force Puma Helicopter carryin...

Image via Wikipedia

SIX FIRMS have expressed interest in challenging the unsolicited bid of SM Land Inc. to develop the 33.1-hectare Bonifacio South property.

Ayala Land Inc., Filinvest Land Inc., Jones Lang La Salle Leechiu, Megaworld Corp., Robinsons Land Corp. and Rockwell Land Corp. all bought bidding documents for the project, according to Aileen Zosa, executive vice president and spokesperson of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

Of the six that purchased the terms of reference for the eligibility requirements, she said three companies—Ayala, Filinvest and Rockwell—sent representatives to the pre-eligibility conference last September 3.

Daewoo International was also present at the conference, but did not buy the eligibility documents, she said. SM Land was likewise in the conference.

“These developments are strong indications of the confidence of private business in the Philippine real estate market and in the Aquino government as a whole,” Zosa said in a statement issued yesterday.

The property up for development is made up of parcels of land currently occupied by the Army Support Command (Ascom) and Special Services Unit (SSU) of the Philippine Army and the Bonifacio Naval Station (BNS) and Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) of the Philippine Navy.

The Bonifacio South master plan provided for the development of the BNS/PMC/Ascom/SSU area into a medium- to high-density residential and mix-use complex, with a strong institutional component and a maximum allowable gross floor area of 1.36 million square meters.

The entire property is located along Lawton Avenue, separated from the Jusmag property by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority area and a six-hectare strip of land retained by the Philippine Army.

SM Land’s unsolicited proposal for the development of the property offered an upfront cash payment of P2 billion upon signing of the joint-venture contract with the Bases Convertion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The property developer likewise committed yearly revenues amounting to P25.9 billion for 20 years for a present value of P36,900 a square meter.

Apart from these commitments, SM Land also offered to advance the funds needed to replace the military facilities that would be affected by the development. No amount was pegged for this part of the venture as the BCDA was still reviewing how much the transfer would cost.

Zosa said that for SM Land to get the project, it should match the best offer to be made by the challengers. If SM Land is unable to match, the company with the best technical and financial proposals will be awarded the contract.

Abigail L. Ho

September 6, 2010

http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20100906-290846/6-firms-challenge-SM-bid-for-Boni-South