Ayala acquires Cebu real estate developer after Aboitiz stake buyout approved

CEBU, Philippines – Ayala Land Incorporated (ALI) got the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission to buy out AboitizLand and Aboitiz Equity Ventures’ majority stake in Cebu District Property Enterprise Incorporated (CDPEI).

CDPEI is a known local real estate developer and a joint venture of the Aboitiz Group and ALI. The firm has been developing Gatewalk Central, a 17.5-hectare estate envisioned to be a progressive center in Mandaue City, complete with residential and office spaces and its own Ayala mall.

The buyout was disclosed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, November 5.

“On 4 November 2024, ALI received the certificate of approval from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) in relation to ALI’s proposed acquisition of the 50% equity interest of Aboitiz Land and Aboitiz Equity Ventures in CDPEI,” ALI’s disclosure form read.

It was revealed that ALI bought 18.1 million shares from the Aboitiz Group for P100 per share. The full buyout amount was at P1.81 billion and would be paid in cash in tranches.

Under the Aboitiz Group’s disclosure of the buyout, ALI would pay AboitizLand P181 million for its 1.81 million common shares and P1.629 billion to Aboitiz Equity Ventures for its 16.29 million Series “A” preferred shares.

ALI first made the proposal to acquire the Aboitiz Group’s shares in June and entered a share sale and purchase agreement with the latter. Prior to this, ALI’s board of directors approved the exchange in April while the Aboitiz Group’s board approved it in February.

“This acquisition will consolidate ALI’s ownership of CDPEI, the developer of Gatewalk Central. ALI envisions Gatewalk Central to be one of its key Cebu estates that will contribute to ALI’s growing presence in the Visayas region,” ALI said in the disclosure form.

Gatewalk Central is going to be ALI’s fourth real estate project, right after Seagrove—which opened in Mactan in December 2023—the Cebu IT Park, and Cebu Business Park.

ALI and the Aboitiz Group led the groundbreaking ceremony of Gatewalk Central in 2016, after they incorporated CDPEI in 2014.

“The transaction is aligned with the Company’s strategy to optimize resource allocation and focus on specific segments of the real estate industry,” the Aboitiz Group said in a separate disclosure. – Rappler.com