Alliance Global buys 5-b Fil-Estate common shares

Alliance Global Group Inc., business tycoon Andrew Tan’s holding firm, on Wednesday said it is buying five billion common shares of Fil-Estate Land Inc., a Sobrepeña-controlled firm. In a statement Wednesday, Alliance Global said the subscription price totaled P5 billion. The transaction gives Alliance Global a 60-percent equity stake in Fil-Estate, industry sources said. The Tan-led firm intends to pay the transaction in two tranches. It will be paid in full after the Securities and Exchange Commission approves an increase in Fil-Estate’s capital stock, according to Alliance Global. “We are acquiring a stake in Fil-Estate Land in line with [Alliance Global’s] strategy of investing in tourism projects outside of Metro Manila," Alliance Global president Kingson Sian said in a statement. “We believe that tourism is our country’s newest sunshine industry. By forging a partnership with Fil-Estate, we will be able to develop more than 1,000 hectares of tourism-oriented communities in the country’s prime tourist spots such as Tagaytay, Nasugbu, and Boracay," Sian said. Early this month, Alliance Global disclosed plans to spend P7 billion in new tourism-related projects outside Metro Manila. Alliance Global is among the country’s largest conglomerates, with businesses in real estate development, food and beverage, quick service restaurants, and hotels-and-resorts development. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV