Ayala Land, Puregold in supermarket joint venture

MANILA, Philippines – The Ayala and Lucio Co groups signed a joint venture agreement to develop and operate supermarkets.

In a statement Monday, July 8, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) said its subsidiary Varejo Corp. entered in a joint venture deal with Estenso Equities Inc. (EEI), a subsidiary of Co-led Puregold Price Club Inc.

The joint venture would put up “mid-market” supermarkets in some of ALI’s integrated and mixed-use developments.

“The joint venture further expands our previous tie-ups with the Puregold group in Harbor Point in Subic and Fairview Terraces in Quezon City,” ALI president and CEO Antonino Aquino said.

“This new supermarket product will further enhance our retail offerings which have been recently expanded to include our other department store and convenience store JVs,” he added.

ALI senior vice president and CFO Jaime Ysmael said in a separate disclosure that the partnership was “part of ALI’s growth strategy for its retailing business and in line with the objective of establishing integrated, mixed-use communities across the country.”

In another disclosure, Puregold said the supermarkets would cater to the ABC market segments and would be housed under a new brand to be developed by both Varejo and EEI.

Puregold is one of the largest supermarket operators in the Philippines with around 171 stores at end-2012, including 131 Puregold stores, 19 Parco supermarkets, 6 S&R warehouses, 4 Eunilaine foodmarts and 11 Grocer E supermarkets.

Puregold earlier announced it would open 25 more stores in 2013. – Rappler.com