Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) has fully acquired PHirst, its first-home residential venture, five years after entering a fruitful joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation.
In a statement over the weekend, CPG Executive Chairman Amb. Jose E.B. Antonio emphasized the strategic importance of this acquisition. "This pivotal move allows us to offer greater value to our stakeholders now that CPG is the 100 percent owner of a fast growing and high margin business," he said.
It could be recalled that in May this year, CPG’s board of directors had approved the company’s acquisition of the 40 percent stake of Mitsubishi in two entities, PHirst Park Homes Inc. (PPHI) and Tanza Properties Inc. (TPI) via a share purchase agreement.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the acquisition has been approved by the firm’s creditors as well as the Philippine Competition Commission in August.
PPHI has successfully completed the launch of 15 projects it committed to deliver during its formation in 2017.
In 2022, CPG established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Century PHirst Corporation (CPC), to expand its market presence by entering the socialized and economic housing, as well as mid-income residential markets.
The expanded market brought about broadened offerings under new brands: PHirst Sights Bay for socialized and economic segments; PHirst Editions Batulao catering to the mid-income market; and PHirst Centrale Hermosa, a mixed-use township encompassing residential (Impressions), commercial (Fairgrounds), and retail (Boroughs) establishments.
This expansion significantly widened PHirst’s price point offerings, ranging from P580,000 to P8 million per unit.
PHirst continues to thrive in its core affordable product line (P1.5 million to P3.5 million) as it launched its first community in Nueva Ecija with PHirst Park Homes Gapan, followed by the opening of PHirst Impressions Batulao in Nasugbu, Batangas in the first and second quarter of 2023, respectively.
Meanwhile, two more project launches are expected to materialize for the remainder of the year, bringing its total portfolio to 21 active developments.
Early this November, PHirst broke ground on its inaugural venture in the Visayas Region via PHirst Park Homes Bacolod, marking a step forward to achieving nationwide presence.
“We are committed to addressing the housing needs of first-time homebuyers as well as to explore further expansion opportunities. Now as the sole owner of PHirst, which caters to our core price point, and with our expansion into new brands broadening our product and price offerings, we now have a platform to address the entire spectrum of the country’s housing backlog,” CPG President and CEO Marco Antonio said.
Mitsubishi Corporation’s Executive Vice President and Group CEO for Urban Development Group Takuya Kuga said that, “together with CPG, MC was able to grow the value of PPHI by contributing to various fields. The outcome we initially projected to achieve in ten years has been substantially realized within five years.”
“Century Properties has been a great partner from the very beginning. This is our second investment with them and in both instances, we achieved healthy financial returns with our successful exits.
“We believe in their stewardship of the business for the years to come. We continue our dialogue with Century as we look for more investments in the Philippines and the Asian region,” he added.
Antonio affirmed the enduring relationship between CPG and Mitsubishi Corporation, hinting at plans for future collaborations.