DDMP REIT debuted on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, March 24. Led by billionaire Edgar “Injap” Sia, the company is the second real estate investment trust (REIT) to be listed in the PSE. It is also the country’s first IPO of the year.
Priced at P2.25 per share, the IPO attracted a rush of retail investors, ultimately numbering over 50,000, which led to the postponement of the IPO from Tuesday to Wednesday. DDMP raised P14.7 billion from the offering.
According to Nikkei Asia, shares in DDMP opened 0.44 percent higher than their offering price and rose nearly seven percent at one point before falling back by the end of trading.
“Listing during a pandemic is definitely not a walk in the park, but we believe this is our share of also promoting a more inclusive economy,” Sia said during his opening speech at the listing ceremony.
“Although we were informed that this take up is already a far record high, I still keep asking myself why, why only 50,000 when the Philippines has a population of over 100 million,” he added. “I am very hopeful to see at least in my lifetime, that the access to investing would become far wider and more inclusive than it is today. Because that is the only way in which the small guys will not just always be in a situation to just wait where the few would decide which direction the wind should blow, and then, just settle on tagging along at the back of that line.”
DDMP is the third company in Sia’s portfolio to list in the PSE, following DoubleDragon Properties in 2014 and MerryMart Consumer Corp, which made its stock market debut also in the midst of the pandemic last year.
DDMP’s REIT offer includes the first six buildings in DoubleDragon Property’s most valuable property portfolio, DD Meridian Park in Pasay City. The buildings are recently built and LEED Gold Certified in the case of the four towers of DoubleDragon Plaza, while DoubleDragon East & West are currently pre-certified LEED Silver with above standard specifications.
Ayala Land’s AREIT was the first REIT to list in the PSE in August last year.
Under the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the REIT Law of 2009, which was approved by regulators last year, an REIT company is required to distribute at least 90 percent of its distributable income as dividends. In exchange, a REIT can claim the dividends as allowable deductions against its taxable income, making it practically tax-free.
In addition to the six buildings that will form the first tranche of DDMP REIT, the company has said that two more buildings also located within the DD Meridian Park complex that are still under construction are planned to be infused in the DDMP REIT “within two to three years.”
At least three other companies have announced plans to go public within the year: Monde Nissin, whose P72.45 billion share sale could be the country’s largest-ever IPO, sugar producer Central Azucarera de San Antonio, and Cyberzone Properties REIT.
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