FILINVEST Land Inc.’s (FLI) board of directors has approved the transition of its wholly owned subsidiary Cyberzone Properties Inc. (CPI) into a Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) Company, the firm told the local bourse Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021.
CPI is intended to be listed on the PSE in compliance with the minimum public ownership requirements under Philippine securities regulations and the Reit Act of 2009 and its implementing rules and regulations and under such terms and conditions as FLI’s board of directors may subsequently approve.
FLI is one of the pioneer providers of office space to the business process management (BPM) industry in the Philippines and currently has 43 operating and under construction office buildings covering over 824,000 square meters of gross leasable area.
A certain number of operating office buildings, including buildings leased out to traditional and multinational BPM companies, will comprise the property portfolio for the Reit Company. These office buildings are located in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City, Alabang and Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu in Cebu City.
Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City is an 18.7 hectare Peza-registered business park designed to cater primarily to BPM companies. Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu, on the other hand, is a 1.2-hectare master-planned mixed-use complex development comprising four towers with a common retail and parking podium. The development is a joint venture with the Provincial Government of Cebu City.
Filinvest’s BPM buildings have continued to be fully operational during the Covid-19 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,” FLI president and chief executive officer Josephine Gotianun-Yap said. (PR)