Megaworld submits higher bid for North Boni

MANILA, Philippines - Megaworld Corp. has exercised its right to match the offer of its lone challenger, Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), for the 8.38-hectare North Bonifacio property put up for sale by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA).

In a statement issued yesterday, Megaworld said it submitted a final bid of P37,603 per square meter or a total of P3.15 billion for the premium property, slightly higher than RLC’s offer of P37,597.86 per square meter. This effectively values the North Bonifacio lots close to P80,000 per square meter on a net developable area. 

Under the joint venture guidelines of the National Economic and Development Authority, Megaworld has the right to match RLC’s offer and secure the contract. Failure to do will result in the awarding of the contract to the competitive challenger. Megaworld’s revised offer is 13 percent higher than the original bid of P2.78 billion.

“We remain fully optimistic about the long-term development potential of the property and firmly committed to the Bonifacio Global City as the upcoming premier central business district in the country,” said Andrew Tan, chairman and chief executive officer of Megaworld.

The company’s proposal for the North Bonifacio lots is a mixed-use development of more than 500,000 square meters of gross floor area and is predominantly residential.

Aside from RLC, two other companies – Ayala Land Inc. and Filinvest Land Inc. also expressed interest to develop the North Bonifacio property but RLC was the only company that submitted all technical and financial proposals to challenge Megaworld’s offer.

With a cash position of P15.7 billion as of end-June this year, Megaworld boasts pf a strong capability to carry out large-scale property development projects. It has a successful track record of building self-contained communities under its pioneering live-work-play-learn concept. 

In the first six months of the year, Megaworld posted a net profit of P2 billion or 12 percent higher than the previous level. Consolidated revenues grew 16 percent to P8.73 billion, with real estate sales accounting for P6.07 billion or an increase of 15 percent from the year earlier level of P5.28 billion.

Rental income from its BPO office and retail developments reached a high of P939.17 million, up 46 percent from P645.02 million earlier.

Megaworld currently has five townships within Metro Manila, as well as stand-alone projects in the Makati central business district. It has about 275,000 square meters of BPO office space and expects to complete another 60,000 square meters by yearend.