MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust of Megaworld Corp., said on Tuesday that it had obtained Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval for its P27-billion Wave 5 property-for-share swap, the firm’s largest asset infusion to date.
The approval, secured within the third quarter, will allow the newly infused assets to contribute to MREIT’s income retroactively beginning July 1.
“Wave 5 demonstrates MREIT’s ability to translate the depth of Megaworld’s sponsor pipeline into tangible shareholder value. With SEC approval secured within the third quarter and the assets contributing income effective July 1, shareholders stand to benefit from the transaction’s material dividend-per-share accretion from the outset,” MREIT President and CEO Jose Arnulfo Batac said.
Wave 5 will add about 303,900 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA) to MREIT’s portfolio, bringing its assets under management to approximately P122 billion and its total portfolio to more than 950,000 square meters of GLA upon completion.
Combined with the P16.2-billion Wave 4 transaction completed in the first quarter, MREIT’s asset infusions for 2026 will total more than P43 billion.
The Wave 5 portfolio consists of five lifestyle malls with a combined GLA of about 160,200 square meters: Festive Walk Mall, Lucky Chinatown Mall, Venice Grand Canal Mall, Eastwood Mall and Southwoods Mall.
It also includes the 737-room Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City, with about 26,500 square meters of GLA, and six office assets totaling approximately 117,200 square meters.
The office properties are Science Hub Tower 2, Venice Corporate Center, Six West Campus, One Paseo, Global One and Horizon Center.
The infusion will diversify MREIT’s portfolio from more than 95 percent office by GLA to about 77 percent office, 20 percent retail and 3 percent hotel.
The Wave 5 assets have a blended occupancy rate of 91 percent and a weighted average lease expiry of 5.3 years, providing recurring income from office, retail and hospitality properties.
The assets were valued at a blended effective capitalization rate of 7.8 percent, while the shares to be issued under the transaction were priced at P16.50 each.
MREIT said the issue price represents an 18.6-percent premium to its volume-weighted average price over the 30-day period preceding the board’s approval of the transaction.
Following the completion of Wave 5, MREIT is preparing for its next asset infusion, Wave 6, which is expected to include select assets from Megaworld’s Uptown Bonifacio portfolio.
Any proposed Wave 6 infusion remains subject to due diligence, valuation, corporate approvals and regulatory approvals.
On Tuesday, MREIT’s share price fell by 10 centavos to close at P13.70 each.
