The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said July 10 that it has approved an initial public offering (IPO) for Ayala Land, Inc.’s REIT subsidiary, AREIT, Inc.—the first of its kind in the country.
AREIT is expected to hold the IPO on July 27-31, with a listing debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange on August 7.
AREIT filed for the listing in February. At the time, the company said the move reflected its “commitment to provide Filipinos with options to invest in high-quality, income-generating assets.” It added that Ayala Land’s initiative to establish the first REIT “reflects its confidence in the local economy, and with it hopes to pave the way for the development of a healthy and sustainable REIT market in the country.”
In January, the Philippine government issued new regulations for REITs that include ownership and taxation requirements intended to spur additional investment in the country’s property development and infrastructure sectors.
The SEC lowered the minimum public ownership requirement to state that a REIT must have at least 1,000 public shareholders each owning at least 50 shares of any class of shares and, in total, at least one-third of the outstanding capital stock. REITs were previously required to maintain 40% public ownership in the first year of their listing.