Villar-owned Starmalls inks P2.7-B loan with RCBC

MANILA, Philippines - Starmalls Inc., the mall and office leasing unit of the Villar family, has borrowed P2.7 billion from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

The loan, secured through subsidiary Masterpiece Asian Properties, will be used to fund listed company’s P15-billion, long-term expansion project, the firm said in a statement.

It is payable in seven years Starmalls said in a statement.

Last year, Starmalls announced it was spending P15 billion to expand malls nationwide in the next five years, particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao. It is also building a business process outsourcing (BPO) center that will start operations next year.

Starmalls, formerly Polar Property Holdings Corp., has shopping centers in Mandaluyong, Taguig, Daang Hari, Imus in Cavite, Sta. Rosa in Laguna, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan and Cebu.

“Construction of the next batch of malls will begin next year, and will be located in Iloilo in the Visayas, Cagayan de Oro and Davao Oriental in Mindanao, and Malolos in Bulacan,” Starmalls said.

For the office segment, the listed firm is banking on continuous demand from the BPO industry. So far, Starmalls’ Worldwide Corporate Center in Mandaluong is fully occupied by BPO tenants.

“To address the space requirements of BPO companies, a new office building is being constructed at the corner of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard, an established district for the BPO industry,” Starmalls said.

The local BPO industry is expected to generate $16 billion in revenues this year before hitting $25 billion in 2016, data from the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines showed.

Aside from the Villar family, prominent Thai mall developer Land & House is a significant stockholder of Starmalls.

Last year, Polar Property and Manuela Corp., both controlled by the Villar family, merged their resources and operations via a share-swap transaction.

Manuela opened its first shopping mall in Las Piñas City in 1979 and three other malls between 1982 and 1996: Starmall Las Piñas Annex, Starmall EDSA in Mandaluyong and Starmall Alabang in Muntinlupa. However, it was forced to undergo corporate rehabilitation following the Asian financial crisis.

In 2008, the Villar family took over the management of Manuela, which exited corporate rehabilitation last year.