Arthaland cops P1 billion from preferred shares sale

Boutique property developer Arthaland Corp. has raised P1 billion from an offering of preferred shares, boosting its capability to expand its land bank and scale up operations in the years ahead.

Arthaland disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that it had issued 10 million series-C preferred shares at P100 each. Of these, 5.24 million were issued to corporate investors while 4.76 million went to individual investors.

“We stopped taking orders when it was two times (oversubscribed) as we had no greenshoe (overallotment option),” said Eduardo Francisco, president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp. which acted as the sole manager, bookrunner and underwriter.

A total of 32 individual investors and 65 corporate investors subscribed to the offering, the company disclosed. These peso-denominated preferred shares are cumulative, nonvoting and nonconvertible shares.

The original dividend rate was fixed at 6.9277 percent per annum. Unless redeemed on the fifth anniversary of listing date, the dividend will be adjusted based on a step-up formula.

Proceeds will be used by Arthaland mainly for land acquisition, as outlined in its five-year plan to grow its development portfolio by five times.

Back in 2016 when it raised P2 billion from an initial offering of preferred shares, Arthaland had mapped out a P30-billion five-year expansion program that diversified its earnings stream and expanded its geographical footprint.

The preferred shares will be issued and listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday (June 27).

Starting with an upscale high-rise condominium residential project (Arya Residences) in BGC, followed by high-rise premium office developments in BGC, Cebu and Arca South, Arthaland is now embarking on mixed-use developments.

In Arca South, Taguig, Arthaland is building a new office development. It plans to sell office space and keep commercial/retailing space in its portfolio as part of the goal to grow recurring income. It will also launch a new upscale residential development along Pasay Road in Makati.