Anchor Land Holdings, Inc.

LISTED Anchor Land Holdings, Inc. through its wholly owned unit Manila Tower Development Corp. has completed the acquisition of historic Admiral Hotel along Roxas Boulevard as part of a planned P4 – billion developments in the Manila Bay area.

Anchor Land said in statement that it purchased Admiral Realty Co., which owns Admiral Hotel, from the Lopez – Araneta family for P360 million.

The owners who divested of their holdings were led by Jose Ma. Lopez and Ma. Victoria Concepcion. The latter is the daughter of Dona Victoria Lopez Araneta, who built the hotel along with husband Don Salvador Araneta in 1938.
Anchor Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that it purchased 299,999 Admiral shares for P258 million. It also advanced P101 million to Admiral Realty creditors to wipe out the hotel company’s debts.

Anchor Land said it secured funds for the acquisition of Admiral Realty from a loan with China Banking Corp. and internal cash.

Businessman William Gatchalian earlier expressed interest in acquiring Admiral Hotel to add to his group’s chain of hotels.

The PSE, meanwhile, suspended trading of Anchor Land shares pending the disclosure of the term and conditions of the transaction.

Anchor Land vice chairman Steve Li said the acquisition was the first step in its Roxas Boulevard development project.

Li said the company planed to redevelop the acquired assets into a boutique hotel and put up an upscale residential condominium beside the original structure, with a resulting twin tower development. The project will be called Admiral Baysuites.

Anchor Land also plans to invest up to P4 billion for the project over the next few years.

“Part of the plan is to have all premium units in the Admiral Hotel, with all the units facing scenic Manila Bay and its famous sunset,” Li said.

Anchor Land, primarily engaged in developing condominium, earlier said it planed to spend P2.5 billion for capital expenditures this year, mostly for the acquisition of properties in various areas in Metro Manila for future development.

Anchor Land has several other big projects in the pipeline, including the 55 – story Anchor Sky suites in Binondo, Manila, which is set to become the tallest structure in the Chinatown district.