SM Group open to talks with owners of OCLP Holdings

The SM Group is amenable to discuss with other owners of OCLP Holdings Inc. as it is still interested in the company, but not necessarily a majority stake.

"We are looking to sit down and also see how we can professionally run the company for the benefit of all," SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) CFO Jose T. Sio said on the sidelines of the company's first half financial briefing on Thursday.

The country's two biggest developers, the SM group and the Ayala group, have been in battle to buy into OCLP Holdings, which owns huge properties in Mandaluyong, San Juan and Quezon City.

Sio noted that the SM Group is siding with OCLP Holdings' Fernando Ortigas group, which owns 42 percent of the holding firm.

The other group, Rafael Ortigas group, owns 47 percent of the company and backs the Ayala group.

The balance, meanwhile, is held by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila.

Sio said the SM Group is "quite happy" with the 42 percent, "provided that the company is run properly and the income growth is there."

But to realize the "real" value of the company, Sio said OCLP Holdings should conduct an initial public offering (IPO).

"One of the option we are looking is possibly bringing the company into IPO because its still private. With that, we can see the real value of the company and that the company can be run professionally," he said.

Sought for comment regarding SM Group's willingness to work with the other owners of the OCLP, ALI senior vice president and chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael said in a separate briefing Thursday that they cannot comment on it and that "it is something the [Ortigas] family members have to resolve."

"We understand that there are still some issues even after the stockholders meeting," he said.

Last July, OCLP Holdings announced it elected new members of its board in its stockholders’ meeting on  July 19, which include Jose Luis O. Montilla, Roberto V. San Jose, Fernando M. Ortigas, Elmer B. Serrano, Edmundo L. Tan, Rolando R. dela Cruz, Yolanda M. Eleazar, Delfin P. Angcao, Antonio Pacis.

The new board is said to be controlled by the Rafael Ortigas group.

In February 2012, SMIC disclosed that they are in the process of discussion for the acquisition of majority interest in OCLP Holdings, but discussions fell through.

However, in June 2012, ALI forged a "strategic alliance" with OCLP Holdings Inc., setting aside P15 billion as its initial investment in the development of its various properties and businesses in San Juan, Mandaluyong and Quezon City.

Ysmael earlier said the alliance “is expected to generate significant synergies with other projects of the company in nearby communities.”

The Ortigas real estate business traces its roots to the 1920s when the Augustinian Fathers sold 4,033 hectares to Frank W. Dudley and Francisco Ortigas. In 1931, Ortigas, Madrigal y cia., S. en C. was incorporated as a limited partnership with the sole purpose of acquiring the Hacienda de Mandaloyon, which spanned the municipalities now known as Mandaluyong, San Juan, Pasig and Quezon City.

The Madrigals withdrew in 1956 and the partnership's name was correspondingly amended to Ortigas & Company Limited Partnership.

Its portfolio includes some of the country's best residential, business and commercial developments - including the landmark Greenhills Shopping Center, financial district Ortigas Center, Tiendesitas in the mixed-use prime location of Frontera Verde, residential areas Valle Verde subdivisions, Greenmeadows, Greenhills subdivisions, Luntala, Circulo Verde and Viridian in Greenhills. - OMG, GMA News