SM to put property interests under Shoemart Inc.

By Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson Inquirer SM Investments Corp., the publicly listed holding firm of the mall magnate Henry Sy, said it would merge all its property interests under Shoemart Inc., a privately held investment company of the Sy family. Inquirer sources said the SM group could be preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) of Shoemart stock, but they stressed that a decision on this had yet to be made. In a disclosure to the stock exchange, SM Investment said the consolidation would be done through a share swap. It said that under an agreement approved by their boards, SM Investments will transfer to Shoemart its entire holding in residential arm SM Development Corp. in exchange for Shoemart shares. As of Sept. 30, SM Investments owned 48.64 percent of SM Development while Shoemart held 15.6 percent, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed. The percentage ownership has yet to be determined, pending valuations to be approved by regulators. SM Investments said it had engaged Macquarie Securities (Asia) Pte. Ltd. as the financial adviser for the transaction. After the consolidation, Shoemart will take over the property development companies of the SM group and their projects, which include residential, commercial, tourism and hotel projects. SM Investments started simplifying its corporate structure two months ago by designating Shoemart as the “main company for the property development efforts” of the SM group. With INQUIRER.net