Keppel exits Philippines property with ₱473-million shell sale
Keppel Ltd. and its affiliates are exiting their remaining listed real estate presence in the Philippines, selling a controlling interest in Keppel Philippines Properties Inc. to Forward Synergy Group Inc. for ₱472.7 million.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, KEP said the Singapore-based conglomerate and its units—Keppel Management Ltd., Molten Pte. Ltd., and Kepwealth Inc.—signed a share purchase agreement on Feb. 12 to divest their combined 86.83 percent stake.
The transaction, priced at ₱1.8526 per share, effectively hands over a shell company to Forward Synergy for use as a backdoor listing vehicle.
The buyer’s ultimate beneficial owners were not disclosed in the regulatory filing. Under Philippine securities laws, the acquisition will trigger a mandatory tender offer, requiring Forward Synergy to offer to purchase the remaining shares held by minority investors under the same terms.
The Philippine Stock Exchange approved a voluntary trading suspension for Keppel Philippines Properties starting Feb. 13 to allow the market to digest the divestment. Trading is scheduled to resume on Feb. 16.
Prior to the sale, Keppel Management held 50.49 percent of the company, while Kepwealth, Molten, and Keppel Ltd. held 17.37 percent, 6.79 percent, and 12.18 percent, respectively.
The move marks the final stages of a multi-year retreat from the Philippines by the Keppel group, which has been systematically liquidating local assets and terminating local subsidiaries. In July 2025, Keppel Philippines Holdings Inc. voluntarily delisted from the local bourse following a successful tender offer by Kepwealth, which consolidated a 99.34 percent stake in that entity.
Keppel’s departure from the Philippine property and infrastructure sectors has been steady. In December 2023, BDO Unibank Inc. completed a buyout of Keppel’s 50 percent interest in SM Keppel Land Inc., the joint venture that owned the Podium complex in the Ortigas central business district.
More recently, in October 2024, Keppel Infrastructure Trust reached an agreement to sell its 50 percent stake in Philippine Coastal Storage & Pipeline Corp., the country’s largest petroleum import terminal, to an affiliate of I Squared Capital.