Ayala builds up healthcare portfolio

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is building up its investments in the healthcare sector with the purchase of a significant stake in a hospital chain.

In a regulatory filing, ALI said it signed a deal to acquire the Mercado family’s Whiteknight Holdings Inc. (WHI), which owns 33 percent of Mercado General Hospital Inc. (MGHI).

“The acquisition of WHI will allow ALI to build a strategic partnership with the Mercado Group and support MGHI’s future growth,” ALI said.

MGHI owns and operates hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers in Batangas, Cebu and Manila. It is also putting up one more facility in Iloilo.

“This partnership will accelerate the provision of medical facilities in our new and existing integrated, mixed-use communities,” said ALI president and CEO Antonino T. Aquino.

Specifically, MGHI will expand in locations where there are existing ALI developments or where ALI plans to put up new projects.

“Together with our traditional residential, office, shopping center and hotel products, the new medical facilities will further enhance and complete our communities, making them the center of development in their region,” Aquino said.

For his part, WHI president and CEO Edwin M. Mercado said the partnership will make quality healthcare accessible to more Filipinos.

Late last month, ALI announced it is introducing hospitals in its provincial mixed-use developments.

Its first project is a P600-million hospital in Iloilo under a partnership with Panay Medical Ventures Inc., a group of local doctors  trained at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital.

Aquino earlier said mixed-use developments in Makati and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig have benefited significantly with the presence of hospitals. Hospitals in the business districts include Makati Medical Center and St. Luke’s Medical Center.

The property unit of the Ayala conglomerate now has 31 growth centers nationwide, up from just nine in 2009. It has 5,694 hectares of land bank.

Growth centers and mixed-use developments are  in areas like Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo in the Visayas; Pampanga, Subic and Bataan in Central Luzon; Quezon City, Fairview and Pasig in Metro Manila; and Davao and Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao.

ALI has allotted P65.5 billion in capital expenditures this year as it plans to launch 69 new projects worth P129 billion to ensure continuous growth in the coming years.

In the first quarter, ALI’s profits jumped 30 percent to P2.76 billion on the back of better performance across all business segments. Consolidated revenues hit P18.53 billion, up 38 percent from P13.39 billion in the same period last year.