The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) announced that it has given the go signal for the Consunji group’s DMC Urban Property Developers Incorporated (DMC-UPDI) to buy the 36-storey Smart Towers in Makati City, which is owned by PLDT.

In a statement on Monday, September 7, the PCC said its decision affirmed the Mergers and Acquisitions Office’s finding that the purchase will not lead to competition concerns on office space leasing in Makati and Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig.

Consunji’s DMC-UPDI leases offices in Makati and BGC. It also has subdivision housing and condominium projects in Davao and Bataan.

Aside from the two towers, the transaction involves the 2,400-square-meter land along Ayala Avenue where these are built on. The sale amount was not disclosed.

“[T]here remain sufficient competitive constraints posed by larger competitors in the said market, and a high concentration of office spaces for lease in both cities, pre- and post-transaction,” the PCC said.

“Additionally, the acquisition of the building is secondary to PLDT’s main business which is in telecommunications, and there will be no change in the structure of ownership or control in either party,” the antitrust body added.

The Smart Towers currently houses PLDT’s fully-owned subsidiary Smart Communications, and leases some of the space to retailers.

In January, PLDT chairman Manny Pangilinan had said that the telco was expecting to sell the property for at least P5 billion to fund its capital expenditures for 2020.

While capital spending for the remainder of the year was trimmed to P70 billion, PLDT said the P13-billion difference would be used for 2021. – Rappler.com