MREIT bolstering portfolio by adding more leasable assets

MANILA, Philippines — MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust of property giant Megaworld, will be bolstering its portfolio by an additional 500,000 square meters in gross leasable area (GLA) in the next two years.

“We’re already deep into the review and due diligence for the next set of properties and we expect to make a formal announcement soon for this to reach our 2027 target of one million square meters,” MREIT investor relations head Andy dela Cruz said.

MREIT is accelerating assets infusion to reach its one million square meters of GLA target three years ahead of its original plan.

From its original target of 2030, MREIT is now looking to achieve one million square meters of GLA by 2027.

“It’s two years until 2027 and we plan to do an additional 500,000 square meters more because we’re currently at 480,000, so to reach one million we need to do 500,000 square meters,” Dela Cruz said.

“We will do maybe two or three waves of acquisitions by then,” he said.

Aside from more office assets, Megaworld is also planning to inject mall developments into MREIT.

“We are already starting to look at retail assets. So the goal of reaching one million square meters will definitely already include retail space,” Dela Cruz said.

MREIT’s portfolio is currently composed of 24 prime office properties strategically located in five Megaworld premier townships: Eastwood City, McKinley Hill, McKinley West, Iloilo Business Park and Davao Park District.

The company’s board earlier endorsed a capital increase and the issuance of up to 1.36 billion primary common shares for stockholders’ approval.

The proposals, which will be voted on during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting next month, include an increase in MREIT’s authorized capital stock from P5 billion to P8 billion as well as the issuance and listing of up to 1.36 billion primary common shares in exchange for cash and/or properties.

MREIT said the measures, once approved, are expected to pave the way for a significant infusion of prime and income-generating assets that will further enhance its portfolio scale and earnings capacity.

MREIT chairman Kevin Tan said that Megaworld would soon have close to 1.7 million square meters of office GLA and close to 700,000 square meters of mall GLA, giving MREIT unparalleled access to a deep pipeline of prime assets.

“When we envisioned MREIT, our goal was to build a REIT that would grow faster and deliver more value than the market expected. Accelerating our one million square meters GLA target to 2027 aligns with that vision, especially amid a more accommodative global rate environment,” Tan said.