Ayala Reit's IPO to blaze trail for other Philippine issuers

Singapore

AYALA Land Reit (AReit) had a rough ride listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in August, being the first-ever issuer to lodge a Reit initial public offering (IPO) in the Philippines, and in the midst of the Covid-19 uncertainty no less.

Prior to its 13.6 billion peso (S$382 million) listing, it even had to do the ground work of educating investors on Reits to help them feel comfortable about investing in an asset class that has thus far never been availed to the investing public before. Through its underwriter, BPI Capital, the Reit management developed a "Reit 101" information campaign - cascading articles, video and other content through traditional and social media. It complemented this with briefings for analysts and roadshows for local institutional and retail clients.