Philippines' first REIT IPO starts at P27 apiece

The Philippines' first real estate investment trust (REIT) initial public offering (IPO), to be undertaken by Ayala-Land sponsored AREIT Inc., has been priced at P27.00 per share.

In a regulatory filing on the local bourse, AREIT said its offer will consist of 47.864 million primary shares and 409.019 million secondary shares, with an overallotment option of 45.688 million secondary shares.

The company earlier announced an offer period that will start on July 27 and end on August 3, 2020, making it the first REIT IPO in the Philippines.

The offer already secured the approval of both the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Similar to trading dollar-denominated securities, REITs may only be traded through eligible brokers.

Trading participants must also comply with the local stock exchange's rule on the recording of securities ownership of its clients under a Name-on-Central-Depository (NoCD) arrangement, as part of the investor protection features of REIT investing.

As with other maiden offerings, AREIT's offer will have a local small investor (LSI) tranche, constituting 10% of the offered shares, which may be availed through the PSE EASy website or mobile application. -NB, GMA News