Profriends invites GT Capital as new partner

GT Capital buys into Profriends for P7.24-B

MANILA - GT Capital Holdings Inc. is buying a minority stake in low-cost housing developer Property Company of Friends Inc. (PCFI) for P7.24 billion to expand its real estate portfolio.

GT Capital said it signed a deal to acquire 22.68 percent of PCFI, with an option to increase its direct shareholding to 51 percent within the next three years, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The acquisition marks the entry of GT Capital into affordable housing, as the country faces a supply shortage of more than three million homes.

PCFI is a subsidiary of Profriends Group Inc., which has postponed a planned 7.7 billion pesos initial public offer.

PCFI has built and sold over 36,000 affordable homes in Cavite and Iloilo. Its flagship project is Lancaster New City, which spans the areas of Kawit, Imus, and General Trias in Cavite.

“The low-cost housing segment is the real sweet spot in the country’s property sector, with a supply shortage of over three million homes, which continues to grow annually. Our partnership with GT Capital will strengthen our ability to be a leading player in serving this urgent market need.

Moreover, the potential synergies of working with other component companies in the GT Capital group will enable us to offer our live, work, learn, play, and worship estates to many more middle income Filipino families,” PCFI chairman Guillermo Choa said in a statement.

Owned by the Philippines' sixth richest man George Ty, GT Capital owns Federal Land Inc, a developer of mid-income and high-end apartments in Manila.

Source: ABS-CBN News/business

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Who's who in Philippine Real Estate Industry

Top 10 Property Developers In The Philippines

10. Rockwell Land Corporation

Founded by the Lopez Group, Rockwell Land has experienced remarkable growth in its first two years of operations. Established in 1995, Rockwell Land transformed a former thermal power plant site into a new living environment which is now the Rockwell Center.

A member of the Lopez Group of Companies, Rockwell Land continues to raise the standard for living spaces, creating environments that seamlessly harmonize residences, work spaces, and lifestyle hubs, all with the Rockwell signature of innovation, exclusivity and unparalleled quality.

9. Property Company of Friends (Profriends)

Profriends or Property Company of Friends is one of the leading property developers in the country. Headquartered in Mandaluyong City, ProFriends is a Top 500 (Ranked 425th) company as counted by Business World in their top grossers list in 2011. Currently, ProFriends is considered as one of the players in Real Estate here in the Philippines.

From small pocket developments, to medium rise condominiums and townhouses, Profriends has ventured into estate development  to meet the different tastes and needs of the Filipino home buyers.

8. Century Properties

Century Properties is the name behind some of the most recognizable projects in Metro Manila in recent years: Azure Urban Residences in Parañaque, Trump Tower Manila in Century City, and Acqua Private Residences in Mandaluyong, to name just a few.

Starting 2010, the Company has completed 6 buildings totaling 5,009 units and 354,313 GFA up to December 31, 2014. This is in addition to the 19 buildings totaling 3,768 units and 518,634 GFA that were completed prior to 2010 by the founding principals’ prior development companies, the Meridien group of companies.

7. Greenfield Development Corporation

Greenfield Dev’t Corp. is one of the most diversified real estate companies in the country that begins in 1972. It engages the expertise of world-renowned consultants-Pei Cobb Freed & Partners; Robert Lambhart, Ltd.; Wallace, Roberts & Todd; PKF Consultants; Fisher Friedman Associates; SWA Group; Skidmore Owings & Merril International Ltd.; EDGE Design Studios; Robert Trent Jones and EDAW EA, Ltd.

Anchored by vast landholdings, financial strength, strategic alliances, and supported by world-renowned consultants, Greenfield Development Corporation is one of the Philippines’s most diversified real estate companies, rapidly expanding through aggressive developments in industrial, commercial, residential, recreational and infrastructure projects.

6. DMCI Homes

DMCI Homes is the real estate arm of DMCI Holdings, Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary DMCI Project Developers, Inc. (PDI). It was incorporated and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 27, 1995. It ranked #146 in the Business World Top 1000 Corporations for 2014.

Through continuing research, DMCI became a pioneer in several advanced construction application technology in the Philippines. Taking this into account, DMCI enjoys the patronage of both new and repeat institutional clients whose businesses have benefited from DMCI’s on-or-ahead-of-schedule completion philosophy.

5. Filinvest Land

Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) is one of the leading real estate developers in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC), which has more than 40 years of experience in real estate development.

Filinvest Land’s core business of affordable and middle-income housing grew to become one of the Philippines’ most diversified real estate developer: high-rise condos, medium-rise projects, BPO buildings, shopping centers, and leisure developments.

4. Vista Land And Lifescapes

Vista Land and Lifescapes, Inc. is a real estate company in the Philippines. It is owned by Manny Villar, a senator of the Philippines. Its condominium projects are primarily built in Metro Manila. It is the only real estate firm in the Philippines to operate on a nationwide scale with projects present in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao islands. The company’s mall units is planning to develop malls in all its horizontal residential projects.

Operating through its five distinct subsidiaries, Vista Land is the one of the leading homebuilder in the Philippines. Vista Land provides a wide range of housing products to its customers across all income segments.

3. Megaworld Corporation

The Megaworld Corporation is a property-based company which specializes in large-scale township developments in Metro Manila’s prime locations. Founded by its chairman and CEO, Andrew Tan, a Filipino-Chinese businessman, the corporation is considered to be the leading developer of residential condominiums for the upper-middle and high-end market and office projects for the IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries.

To date, the company has introduced 18 successful large-scale, master-planned mixed-use townships across the country like Eastwood City in Quezon City (18.5 hectares), which holds the distinction of being the country’s first cyberpark.

2. SM Land Inc.

SM Land, Inc. operates as a holding company and through its subsidiaries engages in the development and management of real estate properties. SM Land, Inc. was formerly known as Shoemart Inc. and changed its name to SM Land, Inc. in October, 2008.

In half a decade, SM Land has evolved from being a white knight investor to a developer in its own right successfully completing, delivering and managing their own developments; In effects creating retail, commercial and residential encalves that today are a vibrant part if the community.

1. Ayala Land

Ayala Land, Inc. is the largest property developer in the Philippines, operating prime commercial spaces throughout the country. It is owned by the Ayala Corporation.

Ayala Land develops residential, retail, office, hotel, and leisure components, within growth centers across strategic areas around Philippines. It is the real estate arm of Ayala Corporation, the country’s oldest and one of its largest conglomerates. From an internal division of Ayala Corporation, it was spun off and incorporated in 1988.

Source: HomeSweethome.com

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Is Real Estate Investments Good or Bad for You?

Real estate is like gambling - It is suitable for almost everyone and everyone loves it. It gives a better living standard to some and on the other hand the risks take you on a roller coaster ride. It makes or ruins lives. People are skeptical about investing in real estate as they believe that investing in real estate is a sure shot recipe for disaster. But, after careful observation and learning about real estate investments, you might find quite the opposite.

There are both the possibilities with real estate and it depends on many factors. Let me discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this buisness which will give you a better ideas before investing your money.

The advantages of real estate are:-

1. Income stream: - The best way to earn quick money is investing in real estate .It is a secure path to choose which gives you huge benefits. Investment in real estate is good and rental property is in great demand, so through renting property, you can earn money in no time.

2. Secure: - It is very secure to choose real estate because real estate there are not many risks that one needs to handle - like in other businesses .No other business will give that much opportunity.

Investing in real estate is secure because the value does not tend to fluctuate as much as other assets such as stocks and bonds. However, this does not mean that the investor will always break even or earn a profit on their investment. But, the thing about real estate is that once you have a property in hand, you will not need to be worried that its value will change anytime soon.

3. Two ways to earn: - There are two tricks to earn in real estate. As a smart investor, you can own rental houses and rent them out. Then, hopefully you are collecting the differences in your rents and your expenses as profit.

In addition to profiting from renting out your properties, you are also benefiting from its gradual increase in value. So, it is a win-win situation for you at each level.

4. Real Estate Investments are Less Risky: - Without a doubt, real estate is less risky than other investments. Once, the investment done everyone have the fear of losing their money in other businesses. But, real estate investment is a one-time thing which will ensure results even after long periods of time. One just needs patience. Because, the longer you kept your property, the more you will get good amount of benefits and deals. Risk is there in every business. Real estate is less risky because you have to focus on smaller factors which are not at all risky.

The steps which must be follow before investing in real estate:-

Plan it out: - Everything with a plan will always give you a better ideas of benefits.

Suggestion:-Ask for suggestion from an experienced person in real estate investment.

Never hesitate:-Never hesitate to take chances and risk .Because real estate is a game of chances. If you hesitate to take chances you might lose the opportunity to earn big.

Expert advice: -There is always a need to take expert advice before taking any decision. It will always help you to take fast and beneficial decision.

VALUE:-You need to give value to your work money and time. Real estate is based on all of these three factors to get more benefits and earn a good amount of money.

Research:-Before selling or investing in real estate, it's a good idea to search online market about the best value of the place. Do your homework before investing in real estate.

The disadvantages of real estate are:-

Maintenance: - It requires time for maintenance, repair etc. if you have purchased a not so well piece of property. It always seems to be different than what you had planned.
Legal difficulties:-Investing in real estate is easy .But you need to be fully aware about the rules and regulations issued by the government of your country.

3. Property Taxes:-If you want to invest in real estate, taxes is going to be a headache to you. Because the taxes varies on rural and urban areas, it really effects your profit. So awareness about the taxes will be a real life saver.

4. Involvement of Time and money: - Real estate needs a big amount of money for investment and demands attention to property. It sometimes needs more efforts to sell a property with greater benefit. It needs TIME. Real estate Investment is easy to make, but for more benefits and better results it needs your patience. It is sometime costly to manage re-selling and owning a property.

Conclusion: -The only tough part in real estate is that it requires a huge investment of your time and money. Real estate is risky only if you neglect doing a little research on the official government rules and research on the value of your property.

If you want real benefits in real estate, you need to play the game. Every business is like gambling and there is fear of losing. But in this buisness that fear factor is next to nothing and benefits of it are really high. So, make the smart choice and invest in real estate TODAY!
Source: Sooperarticles.com

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Profriends invites new partner

MANILA, Philippines — GT Capital Holdings, Incorporated, the listed holding company of business tycoon George Ty, is acquiring 22.68% stake in mass housing developer Property Company of Friends, Incorporated (Pro-Friends) for P7.24 billion ($157.92 million).

GT Capital told the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the agreement also provides the company an option to increase its direct shareholdings in Pro-Friends to 51% within the next 3 years.

Its acquisition of a significant stake in Pro-Friends came despite the company’s difficulty in securing approval from the PSE to proceed with its P7.7 billion ($167.96 million) initial public offering (IPO).

Pro-Friends is a unit of Profriend Group, Incorporated, which in 2014 filed an application to conduct an IPO.

Pro-Friends, however, recently pulled out its IPO application.

Meanwhile, the acquisition marks the conglomerate’s venture into mass housing development and is expected to complement its real estate develop unit Federal Land, Incorporated.

"We view this acquisition as a mutually beneficial partnership for both parties. Profriends has the product expertise and the strategic land bank, while GT Capital has the financial resources and access to capital,” GT Capital Chairman Francisco Sebastian said.

"Our partnership adds a new dimension to GT Capital’s property development portfolio and will enable our group to be one of the market leaders in the low-cost housing sector,” he added.
For his part, Profriends Chairman Guillermo Choa welcomed the company’s partnership with GT Capital.

“The low-cost housing segment is the real sweet spot in the country’s property sector, with a supply shortage of over three million homes, which continues to grow annually,” Choa said.

“Our partnership with GT Capital will strengthen our ability to be a leading player in serving this urgent market need. Moreover, the potential synergies of working with other component companies in the GT Capital group will enable us to offer our live, work, learn, play, and worship estates to many more middle income Filipino families,” he added.

Federal Land President Alfred Ty said the acquisition will expand the group’s presence in the property market.

“The GT Capital group will now offer Federal Land’s upper- mid to high-end vertical projects and Profriends' low-cost horizontal and mixed-use townships in key areas near Metro Manila. Our strategic tie-up will thus be a fusion of all property sub-segments,” Ty said.

Last December, Pro-Friends reported an audited net income after tax of P3.61 billion ($78.74 million).filprimehomes
Source: Rappler.com

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