Ayala-Campos group nears deal with MPC

An agreement is expected to be reached between the Ayala-Campos partnership and Metro Pacific Corp. (MPC) in the next few weeks over the former’s purchase of a 50.4 percent stake in MPC subsidiary Bonifacio Land Corp.

The STAR learned that the agreement, which calls for the partnership between Ayala Land and Greenfield Development Corp. owned by Jose Yao Campos to pay for a $105- million (principal plus interest) loan owed by MPC to Larouge BV (a First Pacific subsidiary) and secured by a majority stake in Bonifacio Land, is already in its final stages and may be signed as early as this week or next week.

But even before the agreement has been finalized, the proposal of the Ayala-Campos group to assume the Larouge loan was submitted to Metro Pacific parent firm First Pacific Co. Ltd. in Hong Kong by MPC president Manuel V. Pangilinan for approval.

"What they (MPC) sought First Pacific approval for was to move ahead with the negotiations with the Ayala-Campos consortium. What is going on now is the process to finish it," highly placed sources said.

Sources revealed that First Pacific is expected to give its approval as soon as the agreement between Metro Pacific and the consortium is signed.

It will be recalled that following the withdrawal by the Gokongwei group of an offer to acquire First Pacific’s 50.4-percent stake in Bonifacio Land, First Pacific said that it will have to review its strategies as far as its businesses in the Philippines are concerned (including the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. whose majority stake was also covered by the Gokongwei offer).

While showing very little interest before to the Ayala-Campos offer, The STAR learned that First Pacific has now realized the practicality of selling its stakes in BLC and PLDT separately, since it will be difficult to find another buyer who would be interested in acquiring both. First Pacific is selling its stakes in BLC and PLDT to raise funds to pay off maturing debts.

Bonifacio Land together with the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) jointly own Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. (FBDC) which, in turn, is owner and developer of the prime Fort Bonifacio Global City.

Sources said that Ayala Land and Greenfield will contribute an equal amount or around P2.5 billion each for the majority stake in Bonifacio Land.

The acquisition by the consortium of a controlling stake in Bonifacio Land will mean that it will have a big influence over the development direction of the Global City since it will be represented in the FBDC board. All development contracts at the Global City need approval of the FBDC board.

A number of big real estate companies are already positioning themselves at the Global City in anticipation of a boom in business activities there, especially once the Philippine Stock Exchange transfers its headquarters a few years from now. Some of these companies include Robinsons Land, Sta. Lucia Development Corp., and SM Properties. Just last week, Ayala Land and Greenfield entered into an agreement with FBDC to extend an P8-billion loan for the development of certain portions of the Global City.

FBDC is currently finalizing an agreement with the PSE whereby it will donate land located at the Global City to the stock exchange to house the new PSE headquarters. Also, as part of the agreement, FBDC will have the option of entering into a partnership with a developer for the construction of a building, a portion of which will be used by the PSE and the rest to be leased or sold to other interested locators. FBDC will then have a share of the commercial proceeds of the building.