PLDT eyes up to $400M from possible VITRO REIT

By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter

PLDT, INC. is looking to raise as much as $400 million (P24.6 billion) through a planned real estate investment trust (REIT) listing for its data center business as the company seeks to unlock value from digital infrastructure assets and strengthen its balance sheet.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, the telecommunication company said its board approved a potential REIT listing involving VITRO, Inc., the group’s data center arm.

“We would raise around $300 million to $400 million but that is just for the eight (data centers),” PLDT Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

VITRO is a unit of ePLDT, Inc., PLDT’s information and communications technology holding company.

Mr. Pangilinan said eight operational data centers with a combined capacity of 27 megawatts (MW) are eligible to form the core assets of the planned REIT.

He said the eight facilities are valued at about $600 million to $800 million. Including the VITRO Sta. Rosa campus in Laguna, PLDT’s total data center portfolio is valued at $1.8 billion.

PLDT said it decided to pursue a REIT structure after discussions with potential investors did not produce valuations acceptable to the company.

“We were not getting the kind of value we think we ought to get for the data centers,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

“It will be the eight mature data centers that have an aggregating 27 megawatts that will form the core assets to be injected into the REIT,” he added.

The company also said the proposed listing would support capital recycling and help fund the continued expansion of its data center portfolio.

“The proposed VITRO REIT is intended to provide a platform to unlock value from PLDT Group’s stabilized digital infrastructure assets, broaden investor access to the country’s growing digital infrastructure sector, and create a long-term and sustainable capital recycling platform,” PLDT said.

The move comes as the company seeks more funding sources amid rising debt. PLDT’s net debt stood at P284.7 billion as of end-2025.

Last year, PLDT inaugurated VITRO Sta. Rosa, its 11^th data center and the country’s biggest data center campus. The five-hectare facility has a capacity of up to 50 MW.

Across all sites, VITRO’s combined capacity is nearing 100 MW.

PLDT said no final terms have been determined for the REIT listing, including the final asset portfolio, offer size, valuation, timing or ownership structure.

The planned transaction also comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission issued revised REIT rules in January aimed at broadening eligible income-generating assets and allowing unlisted special purpose vehicles and incorporated joint ventures.

Under an SEC circular, REITs may directly or indirectly own income-generating real estate through unlisted special purpose vehicles, provided the REIT holds at least two-thirds of voting shares.

PLDT shares rose P5 or 0.44% to close at P1,137 each on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., holds a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.