Meralco, Rockwell Land to build BPO complex

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has entered into a joint venture with Rockwell Land Corp. for the construction of a three-tower business process outsourcing (BPO) project. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Meralco said this will formalize an agreement signed last March 2007. Meralco said based on the agreement, it will contribute the use of the land while Rockwell will shoulder the development of the property. Early last year, Meralco said Rockwell, its real estate development subsidiary, will invest over P1 billion for the construction of three BPO buildings within a 1.3-hectare property in Pasig City. Meralco chairman Manuel Lopez earlier said the company will not shell out a single centavo on this venture. “Our share will be the property. The development of the project including marketing and funding will be handled by Rockwell Land,” he said. Meralco, the country’s biggest privately-owned power distributor, currently Meralco, owns 51 percent of Rockwell Land . The remaining 24.5 percent is owned by First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) and 24.5 percent by Benpres Holdings Corp. (BHC). FPHC and BHC are also controlled by the Lopez group. Lopez said the profits to be derived from the real estate development project will be shared by Rockwell (70 percent) and 30 percent will go to Meralco. “This will be a similar undertaking with that of Rockwell in Makati,” he said. He said construction of the first two buildings will start by July this year. By end-2008, they expect the locators to start moving in. According to Lopez, they also expect to construct a residential/commercial complex in the area. Real estate development is one of the major sources of revenues for Meralco. In its 2006 annual report, it reported that Rockwell Land reported a 28 percent increase in income to P369 million in 2006. Revenues in 2006 also rose 12 percent to P2.93 billion.