Metro Pacific looking to sell troubled Manila-development stake to reduce US$200m debt
First Pacific's Philippine property arm may sell a controlling interest in its flagship Fort Bonifacio development in Manila.
Metro Pacific, an 80.6 per cent-held subsidiary of First Pacific, said it was reviewing possible options to deal with the troubled urban redevelopment project, including the selling of 'a significant or even controlling interest in the project'.
Metro Pacific said it had hired investment bank ING Barings to help it 'review strategic alternatives for its controlling interest in Bonifacio Land Corp' as part of an ongoing process of addressing its debt-laden balance sheet.
'Metro Pacific's primary short- to medium-term objective is to bring . . . debts to a size that can be sustained by our ongoing operations,' said Metro Pacific president Ricardo Pascua.
'We continue to sell [residential] units within the Pacific Plaza Towers development and have this year concluded the first land sales since 1996.
'Nevertheless, we recognise that in meeting our debt reduction objective, Metro Pacific will need to sell substantial pieces of property within the Bonifacio Global City and, if necessary, a significant or even controlling interest in the project.'
