DoubleDragon sizzles in market debut

MANILA, Philippines - DoubleDragon Properties Corp., the joint venture of Mang Inasal founder Edgar “Injap” Sia II and Jollibee Foods owner Tony Tan Caktiong, sizzled in its stock market listing yesterday.

Shares of DoubleDragon spiked 50 percent, the daily threshold, to close at P3 each, making it one of the most successful debut in the local bourse to date.

“The initial opening was much higher than we expected,” said Eduardo V. Francisco, president of underwriter BDO Capital & Investment Corp.

“We think it has good value but we encourage people who have shares to hold it. The price will improve throughout the next 12-24 months as the projects come onstream,” Francisco said.

DoubleDragon’s shares opened 20 percent higher at P2.40 apiece compared with the offer price of P2.

“The DoubleDragon debut may have changed the initial public offering (IPO) narrative over the recent years,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

In a briefing, Sia said the company hopes to exceed investors’ expectations through the roll-out of 100 CityMall community malls until 2020.

DoubleDragon raised P1.16 billion after selling 579.73 million primary shares at P2 apiece, marking the first IPO in the local bourse this year.

The shares were more than 15 times oversubscribed during the bookbuilding process, Francisco 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 Visayas and Mindanao.

Sia said the company will complete five CityMall this year. It will also acquire sites for the next 25 community malls that require an investment of around P275 million each.

Francisco said DoubleDragon will benefit from its recurring income portfolio driven by good cash flow and tenant mix.

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

The non-food component of CityMall will be backed by SM Group while Jollibee Foods will be main tenant in the food segment, Sia said.

Moving forward, DoubleDragon plans to raise an additional P3 billion through corporate notes, Francisco said.

“Definitely we will be tapping the market again,” Sia said.

DoubleDragon was initially created as Injap Land Corp. as 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 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.