ALI, Campos group finalize$90-M deal with MPC

The partnership of Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), the Campos-owned Evergreen Holdings, Inc. (EHI) and Greenfield Development Corp. finalized a deal with Metro Pacific Corp. last Thursday, effectively giving the partnership a 50.4-percent interest in Bonifacio Land Corp. and control over Bonifacio Global City.

The deal represents a consummation of an initial agreement among the parties last November, which called for the transfer of a $90-million loan of Metro Pacific from Larouge BV to ALI AND EHI, and a subsequent buyout of Metro Pacific’s stake in Bonifacio Land through a dacion en pago arrangement. The amount represents the principal amount of Larouge’s loan to Metro Pacific, which was obtained in April 2001 to finance maturing loans.

Aside from the 50.4-percent stake in Bonifacio Land, Metro Pacific also assigned to the Ayala-Campos group an additional P655 million in Bonifacio Land notes currently owed by Bonifacio Land to Metro Pacific.

ALI and Campos group officials earlier hailed the agreement as "beneficial to the country," with its huge potential to boost confidence in economic prospects. They have had successful partnerships in real estate projects, such as the Ayala Greenfield Estates residential subdivision in Calamba, Laguna. "We are confident in this partnership and its future. Together, we have the financial and technical capability to see a project of this size through," said Evergreen Holdings Inc. chairman Joselito D. Campos Jr.

"A 50-50 joint venture of this magnitude is ideal and, therefore, unusual. It speaks well of the partnership between the Ayala and Campos groups," said Greenfield president Carlos C. Ejercito.

Meanwhile, Ayala Land Inc. chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala said, "This is an important and strategic opportunity for Ayala Land. We are delighted to be able to work on this project with the Campos group."

"The property’s acquisition, aside from assuring prime inventory over the long-term, is an ideal vehicle for Ayala land to replicate its success in the Makati central business district," added ALI president Francisco Licuanan III. "We continue to believe that the price we paid is reasonable for the type of property we are acquiring." Licuanan had earlier maintained that the Bonifacio Global City was the "single most attractive parcel of land of its size in the metropolis."

ALI and the Campos group are now set to become major players in the development of retail, residential and commercial areas in Bonifacio Global City. In 2000, ALI had won the bid for the 9.8-hectare Lot C parcel strategically located along C-5 – a major artery parallel to EDSA. It is where Market! Market!, a super-regional shopping center consisting of 152,000 square meters of gross leasable space, is being constructed. Market! Market! is expected to become operational by 2004.

Meanwhile, a joint development agreement with the Bases Conversion Development Authority has been signed with ALI. This involves an 8.5-hectare parcel of land, which ALI plans to develop as a major residential enclave in Fort Bonifacio.