MANILA, Philippines – DoubleDragon Properties Corporation plans to spend P4.8 billion to develop 100,000 square meters (sqm) of industrial leasing hubs and 5,000 hotel rooms across the Philippines by 2020.
DoubleDragon president Edgar "Injap" Sia II said on the sidelines of the company's annual stockholders' meeting that funding for these ventures will primarily come from the planned sale of P7.5 billion worth of shares, slated before the end of 2017.
Sia said DoubleDragon is slated to open its 1st industrial leasing hub before the end of the year. This is located in a one-hectare lot within the Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac.
Under the plan, DoubleDragon will build two industry hubs each in Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. (READ: DoubleDragon to build 'biggest' hotel in Mindanao)
These industrial hubs will primarily cater to fast food companies looking for commissaries and cold storage facilities. It will also target manufacturing firms and logistics firms looking for warehouses.
At the same time, DoubleDragon is looking to build 5,000 hotel rooms across the country, primarily through its JinJiang and Hotel 101 brands.
P2.7 billion from the share sale will also be set aside for land banking activities for expansions plans beyond 2020.
DoubleDragon is in talks with foreign and local underwriters to handle the deal. (READ: Injap Sia out of Forbes list of Filipino dollar billionaires)
Aside from raising fresh capital to finance new ventures, DoubleDragon said the planned share sale will also enable it to attract foreign institutional investors.
The company aims to be part of the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index over the next two years.
DoubleDragon earlier raised its 2020 goals by targeting 1.2 million sqm of leasable space from the initial target of one million. It also projects a net income of P5.5 billion in 2020, from P4.8 billion.
Sia also reported that the company will secure by 2018 all the land needed to hit its target of 100 CityMalls that would have 700,000 sqm of leasable space by 2020.
At present, it has 20 CityMalls that are operational and 25 others under construction.
Meanwhile, the first 4 office towers within the 4.7-hectare DD Meridian Park in Pasay City are set to be completed by the end of 2017, ahead of the original timeline.
Sia said the 4 office towers are mostly leased to business process outsourcing companies and online gaming firms.
The entire DD Meridian Park will have a total of 280,000 sqm of leasable space.
Also slated for completion this year is Jollibee Tower in Ortigas, which will add 48,000 sqm meters of office space. – Rappler.com