Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) has completed the overnight block placement of its shares in RL Commercial REIT, Inc. (RCR). On April 5, 2024, RLC sold a total of 1,725,995,000 RCR shares at a transaction price of ₱4.92 per share. With this placement, the public float of RCR increased to 49.95%. This placement enables RCR to acquire accretive assets from RLC’s diverse pipeline of investment properties. Subject to prevailing market conditions and after obtaining the necessary approvals, RLC intends to infuse approximately ₱25 billion worth of assets and increase the total gross leasable area of RCR by approximately 60% this year. RLC engaged BPI Capital Corporation as the Sole Placement Agent and Bookrunner for this transaction.
Aside from its offices, RLC intends to infuse other asset classes which includes, its malls, hotels and warehouses into RCR that meet RCR’s investment criteria. RLC’s current investment portfolio includes 1.6 million square meters of leasable mall spaces, 270 thousand square meters of remaining leasable office spaces, 26 hotels with a total of 4,243 room keys, and 227 thousand square meters of leasable logistics facilities. With the potential infusion of various asset classes in several key cities across the country, this maximizes RCR’s revenue streams to ensure its continuous growth.
“The oversubscribed book is a testament to the strength of RLC’s brand. We are thankful to the institutional investors for their continued trust and confidence in RLC’s reputation. Being the majority shareholder of RCR, RLC shall continuously fuel the growth of RCR by infusing yield-accretive and high-quality assets that will complement the existing predominantly-office asset portfolio of RCR in order to maximize both RLC and RCR’s shareholder value. We envision RCR to be the bellwether REIT in the Philippine real estate landscape,” said Mr. Lance Y. Gokongwei, Chairman, President and CEO of RLC.
RLC continues to demonstrate its commitment in growing RCR by evaluating its existing portfolio for Distribution Per Share (DPS)-accretive assets that will maximize capital recycling efforts in support of its various local real estate projects. RLC intends to invest the net proceeds on various projects under construction and land acquisition in compliance with the reinvesting policies of Republic Act No. 9856, otherwise known as the “Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Act of 2009”, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, specifically, Rule 4, Section 5.1(e) thereof.
RCR’s current portfolio consists of 16 premium assets in 10 major cities, totaling 480 thousand square meters of gross leasable space. RCR has consistently distributed increasing dividends per share quarter-on-quarter since its listing. In 2023, RCR has posted total revenues amounting to ₱5.52 billion, excluding the effect of the change in Fair Market Value of Investment Properties, and has paid out total dividends amounting to ₱0.3914 per share.