Ayala Group forms P850-M hotel/condo holding firm

The Ayala Group has formed a new company, Greenhaven Property Ventures, with an initial capitalization of P850 million.

Based on documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Greenhaven will  purchase, develop, sell, lease  and hold for investment real estate of all kinds including hotels and condomininium units.

Alfie Reyes, spokesperson of property grant Ayala Land, declined to give more details about the new company, merely saying the group has been establishing holding companies for its various businesses. 

Out of the P850 million authorized capital stock, P212.5 million has been subscribed and P53.125 million paid for by Ayala Hotels Inc. 

Ayala Hotels is the the Ayala Group’s lead investment and development vehicle in the hospitality business.  At its inception, the company’s assets included two operating hotels: Hotel Inter-Continental Manila, a deluxe hotel located at the heart of the Makati central business district; and the Davao Insular Hotel, a resort-business hotel in one of the country’s biggest cities.

The company also owns two prime parcels of land in the Makati CBD which it currently leases to the Peninsula Manila and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Through the years, Ayala Hotels has formed various subsidiaries to manage its growing portfolio of assets. The first wholly-owned subsidiary, Enjay Hotels Inc., was established in 1990 to be the owning company of  Hotel Inter-Continental Manila. Ayala Hotels also consolidated its holdings in Davao Insular Hotel Co. Inc., having completed the purchase of 65 percent of the company’s outstanding capital stock in 1992.

Ayala Hotels likewise formed joint ventures with strategic partners, both local and foreign, to develop new hotels in key locations. In 1995, it partnered with Cebu Holdings Inc., another Ayala-affiliate, to build the 303-room businessman’s hotel Cebu City Marriott Hotel.

Ayala Hotels also entered into a strategic partnership with Rodamco Pacific Management Ltd., a Dutch investment group based in Hong Kong, to build a luxury serviced apartment complex at the Ayala Center called the Oakwood.  However, in November 2006, the Ayalas sold their stake in Oakwood to Ascott Residence Trust of Singapore for P2.7 billion

As the demand for quality accommodation continues to increase, Ayala Hotels has committed to develop new hotels which respond to the discriminating requirements of its target clientele. 

The Ayala Group, in joint venture with Dubai-based Kingdom Hotel Investments Inc. is building a luxury hotel complex in a 7,377-square meter property at the corner of Makati Avenue and Arnaiz Avenue, estimated to cost around $153 million (nearly P7 billion).

The project will involve the development of a 300-room Fairmont Hotel, a 30-suite Raffles Hotel, and 189 Raffles-branded private residences.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud is the founder, majority shareholder and chairman of Kingdom Hotel Investments.  He has significant equity investments in leading international hotel management companies, among them Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Raffles Hotels and Resorts, and Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts.