Andrew Tan takes over as chairman-CEO of Fil-Estate Land, now Global Estate Resorts

MANILA, Philippines –  Real estate tycoon Andrew Tan has taken over the reins of Fil-Estate Land Inc. following the completion of the purchase of nearly 60 percent of the company.

Tan, through listed investment holding firm Alliance Global Group Inc., has taken over Fil-Estate in a deal valued at P5 billion, P1.25 billion of which had already been paid. With the purchase, Tan was installed as chairman and chief executive officer of Fil-Estate, which will be renamed Global Estate Resorts Inc.

The group of businessman Robert John Sobrepena has retained a fifth of Fil-Estate, which used to be a premier real estate developer until the 1997 currency crisis that gripped Asia.

AGI’s purchase of a majority stake in Fil-Estate should boost the latter’s bid to regain its strong presence in the real estate industry and allow it to pursue projects that had been hampered by liquidity problems.

“With the infusion of new capital by AGI, Fil-Estate is now in a strong position to pursue various tourism-oriented projects immediately. It has just started with the master planning of the Newcoast Station, a new tourism-oriented community project in Boracay,” AGI said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Fil-Estate owns and controls more than 10 percent of the total land area in Boracay. “This gives it the capacity to improve existing tourist attractions and develop new ones in the island,” AGI said.

AGI said its Newcoast Station project will serve as a catalyst for the growth of the Boracay tourism industry.

With the purchase, AGI will be able to develop more than 1,000 hectares of tourism-oriented communities in the country’s prime tourist spots which include Tagaytay and Nasugbu, Batangas.

AGI, one of the country’s largest conglomerates, is an active player in a wide range of industries from tourism and real estate development to food and beverage, quick-service restaurants and hotels and resorts development. Among its units include Travellers International Hotel Group, Megaworld Corp., Emperador Distillers Inc. and McDonalds.