By James A. Loyola
D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Incorporated (DMWAI), the 53-year-old integrated property developer and construction company of the Wenceslao family, is finally pushing through with plans to go public after a three year delay.
In a statement, the firm said it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange applications in connection with its planned initial public offering (IPO) to raise as much as P15.5 billion.
DMWAI said it plans to offer up to 679.2 million shares, or about 20 percent of the company’s total issued shares but noted that this “remains subject to the requisite regulatory approvals and market conditions.”
The company has mandated BPI Capital and Maybank as the Joint Global Coordinators and Bookrunners for the IPO.
Proceeds from the IPO will be mainly used to further expand its real estate development footprint through a mix of commercial and residential projects in Aseana City.
DMWAI is the developer and primary owner of Aseana City, one of the largest and fastest growing mixed-use business districts in the Manila Bay Area.
In a 2017 statement, Colliers International said, “the reclaimed land in the Manila Bay area is a feasible option for mixed-use projects as shown by the growing popularity of D.M. Wenceslao’s Aseana City.”
Data from Colliers showed that the value of reclaimed land in the Manila Bay area now ranges from P150,000 to P250,000 per square meter (net of value-added tax), growing by an average of 24% annually over the past 10 years.
In addition to its property development business, DMWAI is also one of a few AAAA construction companies in the Philippines which speaks of its stability and capacity to undertake large scale infrastructure and construction projects.