Sy-led property firms to delist on Nov 5

MANILA, Philippines – Two property firms under the business group of Henry Sy Sr, the country’s richest man, are scheduled to delist from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on November 5.

This was according to separate PSE circulars on Friday, October 18, citing luxury developer Highlands Prime Inc. and residential property unit SM Development Corporation (SMDC).

Both were folded into the former mall operator SM Prime Holdings, which was the surviving entity after a mega-merger in May. (READ: SM group creates property behemoth)

The deal created the country’s biggest and an integrated property company that is now positioning itself to also be a regional real estate powerhouse. (READ: SM group eyes regional expansion)

The delisting follows the October 10 announcement that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the merger.

Trading of the shares of Highlands Prime and SMDC were suspended in August after their public floats fell below the 10% minimum required by the exchange.

This was after their respective shareholders participated in a series of tender offers as part of the merger moves.

SMDC was listed in the stock exchange on March 3, 1975, according to its profile on the PSE website. It started as a closed-end investment company called Ayala Fund Inc. in 1974 until it was renamed SM Development Corp in 1996, around the time the Sy group was eyeing to pursue other opportunities in the real estate industry aside from their highly successful retail chains. 

SMDC was last traded at P6.81 per share on August 12, before trading suspension took effect. It has over 9.27 million listed shares as of October 18, translating to a 15.35% public float. Its market capitalization stood at P63.14 billion.

Highlands Prime listed on the stock exchange under the symbol “HP” on April 23, 2002. It was last traded at P2.12 apiece on July 31. It had over 2.2 million listed shares representing 10.14% public float. Market capitalization was at over P4.76 billion. – Rappler.com