DoubleDragon pegs IPO price at top end of P2

MANILA, Philippines - The property firm of Mang Inasal founder Edgar “Injap” Sia II and Jollibee Foods owner Tony Tan Caktiong is selling its shares to the public at the top end of the indicative price range.

DoubleDragon Properties Corp. will raise P1.16 billion in the first initial public offering (IPO) in the local bourse this year given strong demand for the shares.

“The offer shares are being offered at the price of P2 per share, which was established using the book-building approach,” DoubleDragon said in a regulatory filing.

The shares were 14 times oversubscribed, said Eduardo Francisco, president of underwriter BDO Capital & Investment Corp. Unicapital Securities Inc. and RCBC Capital Corp. are also facilitating the IPO.

DoubleDragon will sell 579.73 million primary shares at P2 apiece. Excluding costs such as listing and underwriting fees, the company will generate net proceeds of P1.03 billion.

The offer period will run from March 26 up to April 1.

DoubleDragon is jumpstarting this year a P24-billion program to become the largest community malls chain in the Philippines.

“The company intends to use the proceeds of the offering to partially finance the rollout and development of the first five CityMalls, acquisition of land and pre-development works for near-term development, and general working capital purposes,” the property firm said.

DoubleDragon aims to reach one million square meters (sqm) of total leasable space portfolio by 2020, of which 700,000 sqm is expected to come from the planned 100 CityMall community malls, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Last month, mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. acquired 34 percent of CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. while DoubleDragon retained a 66-percent stake and management control.

DoubleDragon was initially created as Injap Land Corp., the real estate arm of Injap Investments Inc., in 2009. In July 2012, it was renamed DoubleDragon as it became a 50-50 joint venture between Injap Investments and Honeystar Holdings Corp. of Tan Caktiong.

DoubleDragon plans to be one of the largest property developer in the country by 2020. This entails becoming one of the top 10 real estate firms in terms of net income and revenues.

In 2013, DoubleDragon’s net income jumped 32 percent to P126.63 million from P92.48 million, almost entirely coming from residential sales.