FLI share offer oversubscribed

The follow-on offering of Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI), a property development firm owned by businessman Andrew Gotianun, was more than five times oversubscribed, raising around $204 million, according to its issue manager UBS AG.

FLI offered 5.4 billion shares to both local and foreign investors at P1.60 per share or a 5.8-percent discount to the volume weighted average of the company’s shares on the exchange for the 10 trading days ending Jan. 19, 2007 of P1.69.

Of the shares offered, 3.7 billion came from FLI while the remaining 1.7 billion came from Filinvest Alabang Inc.

UBS Philippines chief representative Lauro Baja III said the offering attracted more than $900 million worth of foreign institutional orders.

The shares were sold to 72 foreign institutional investors in Asia, United States, Europe and the Middle East.

FLI is the third publicly-listed company that undertook a follow-on offering after Robinsons Land Corp. and Megaworld Corp. Listing of the shares is scheduled on Feb. 6.

"There is a lot of interest in FLI as it covers different areas of the real estate sector, " said UBS Securities Phils. Inc. executive director Jody Santiago.

FLI’s projects include integrated residential township developments and stand-alone residential subdivisions which offer lots and/or housing units to customers in the low-cost segment (which includes socialized and affordable subdivision developments) and in the middle-income and high-end markets.

It has developed "themed" housing and land development projects, such as entrepreneurial communities, and has developed the Filinvest Technology Park- Calamba in Laguna which is a registered special economic zone that offers industrial-size lots and ready-built factories to domestic and foreign enterprises engaged in light to medium non-polluting industries.

FLI also has leisure projects such as residential farm estates and private membership club developments.

FLI remains the biggest player in the low- to mid-cost housing market, where demand is growing at a fast pace but is largely unmet.

Government data show that for 2005-2010, 3.76 million houses or an average of 626,012 houses per year will be needed, 70 percent of which will be within the low cost segment.

Santiago said FLI’s lease revenues from the business process outsourcing business should further boost the company’s profitability.

Last September, FLI acquired substantial interests in three major properties in Metro Manila from Filinvest Alabang Inc. and Filinvest Development Corp. – PBCom Tower, Festival Supermall, and Northgate Cyberzone.

FLI will get $125 million from the sales proceeds which will be used to fund the development of its projects.

For this year, the company has earmarked P5 billion in capital expenditures, P3.7 billion of which will go to residential development and P1.3 billion for office development.