Shoemart Inc. renamed SM Land Inc.

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the publicly-listed investment holding firm of the family of retail tycoon Henry Sy, said it has renamed unit Shoemart Inc. to SM Land Inc. to serve as the private holding company for the SM Group’s property-related subsidiaries and projects.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMIC said the move is in line with the ongoing realignment of the SM Group’s assets to simplify its corporate structure and put subsidiaries, affiliates and other assets together in their respective lines of business.

The realignment also aims to achieve greater transparency and the company’s ability to unlock the value of specific assets.

Late last year, Shoemart completed its tender offer for the 35.3-percent stake held by public investors in SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the middle income residential developer of the SM Group. This brought its interest in SMDC to 51 percent.

Other real estate units of the SM Group are Highlands Prime Inc., which is focused on high-end residential projects, and Belle Resources Corp.

SMIC is one of the largest holding companies in the Philippines with a market capitalization of $3.3 billion as of end-June 2008. It is engaged in four businesses through its subsidiaries — shopping mall development and management (SM Prime Holdings Inc.); retail merchandising (SM Department Stores); financial services (Banco de Oro Universal Bank, China Banking Corp.) and real estate development and tourism SMDC and Highlands Prime).

For this year, SMIC has set aside P26.9 billion for the continued expansion of its retail, banking, shopping mall and real estate operations. Bulk of the allotted capital or P15.6 billion will go to the group’s real estate development business while P6 billion will be used to boost its shopping mall network nationwide. Another P3.8 billion will be channeled to the improvement of the group’s financial services business and P1.5 billion for the construction of new supermarkets and hypermarts.

SMIC had earlier said two-thirds of the capital requirements needed for the expansion of the group’s core businesses will be funded by internally-generated cash while the balance will come from borrowings.