MANILA, Philippines – For the first time, Filipinos may be able to invest in a REIT whose income comes from data centers, the physical backbone of cloud computing and AI.

PLDT Inc. disclosed that VITRO Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ePLDT, submitted a registration statement and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Plan with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO). On June 22, PLDT said VITRO had also submitted its application to list on the Main Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

If approved, the listing would mark a historic first for the local stock market. It would be the Philippines’ first digital infrastructure REIT, and the first local REIT whose initial portfolio consists of data center assets rather than the more familiar offices, malls, hotels, warehouses, or township properties.

“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 that can support the continued expansion of VITRO’s data center portfolio,” PLDT earlier said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In other words, PLDT wants to raise money from assets it already owns, such as its data centers, while still keeping control of a business it sees as central to its future.

As a quick refresher, a REIT in the Philippines is a company that owns income-generating real estate assets. When you invest in a REIT stock, you are usually buying it as a dividend play. You expect recurring dividends from rental or property-related income, rather than relying only on the stock price going up.

Under the REIT law, REITs are required to distribute at least 90% of their distributable income as dividends to shareholders. This is why REITs have become popular among dividend-seeking investors.

Traditionally, Philippine REITs have been built around more familiar property assets. Ayala Land’s AREIT began with office buildings. DoubleDragon’s DDMP REIT was backed by office assets in the Manila Bay area. Megaworld, Robinsons Land, Filinvest Land, Citicore, Vista Land, and MREIT also brought their own property portfolios to the market. (READ: [ANALYSIS] Not all REITs are created equal).

VITRO REIT would be different. Its assets would be data centers.

What is VITRO?

VITRO describes itself as the Philippines’ pioneer in hyperscale-grade data centers. It was established under ePLDT in 2000 and has grown into one of the country’s leading data center platforms. ePLDT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLDT that serves as its digital business arm. It provides enterprise technology services such as cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, managed IT, and data center solutions.

The company says it has 11 data center facilities nationwide and more than 400 customers. Its sites serve enterprise, hyperscale, cloud, and other clients that need secure and reliable digital infrastructure.

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Its most prominent facility is VITRO Sta. Rosa in Laguna, which they position as “the Philippines’ first AI-ready hyperscale data center.” Hyperscale data centers are large, high-capacity facilities designed to support massive computing workloads, such as those needed for cloud services and artificial intelligence. This particular facility has 36 megawatts of IT load capacity.

However, not all of these assets will be included in REIT’s initial portfolio, which is expected to include eight data center assets with around 24 megawatts of total IT-ready capacity.

How much will be raised?

Under the proposed offer, ePLDT plans to sell up to 1.913 billion secondary common shares of VITRO REIT, with an over-allotment option of up to 286.96 million additional secondary shares. The offer price is up to P11 per share.

If everything goes to plan and the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the offer could raise up to P24.2 billion in gross proceeds. That would represent about 48.95% of VITRO REIT’s issued and outstanding capital stock after the IPO.

Put another way, even with the over-allotment option fully exercised, ePLDT would still retain a majority stake of about 51.05%.

That is the balancing act behind the deal. PLDT can raise capital from VITRO’s data center assets, give public investors a way to participate in the sector, and still keep control of the platform.

As far back as 2024, PLDT chariman and chief executive officer Manuel Pangilinan was already considering monetizing its data centers, either through a sale of stakes in the assets to Nippon Telegraph Telephone or through a REIT.

“Obviously, if you sell control of the data center, we don’t get more money or more premium, that’s just how it is. So the question to PLDT is: do we keep control of what we regard as a strategic asset for the group because one of the major pillars of ePLDT would be the data centers,” Pangilinan said in 2024, as reported by GMA News.

Later in 2026, PLDT’s chief financial officer Danny Yu also said that they were “seriously considering” an IPO for VITRO rather than selling their stake in their data centers.

“Most of them want majority. We don’t want to sell majority of our data center,” Yu said, as reported by the Philippine News Agency.

With this context, the timing of VITRO’s REIT push is not accidental. The SEC has paved the way for more types of REITs like VITRO. SEC Memorandum Circular No. 1, Series of 2026 amended the rules surrounding REITs to allow for digital infrastructure assets like data centers to also be used for REITs.

The data center industry in the Philippines is expanding quickly. Some examples include STT GDC Philippines — a Globe, ST Telemedia, and Ayala Corp joint venture — which is growing its local footprint. Concurrently, A-FLOW (FLOW Digital Infrastructure and AyalaLand Logistics) is developing a 36-MW facility in Laguna, while Converge ICT Solutions rolls out data centers across Caloocan, Angeles, Reliance, and Clark.

This means VITRO REIT may not be the last digital infrastructure REIT the market sees. If the IPO succeeds, it could set a precedent for how other companies with income-generating data center assets might raise capital through the stock market.

What will the proceeds be used for?

According to PLDT, the proceeds from the sales will be used for debt repayment. That does not mean all proceeds will go to debt repayment, but it shows why the transaction matters for PLDT right now.

PLDT has had to juggle its debt load while continuing to invest in capital-heavy infrastructure. As of end-March 2026, PLDT’s gross debt was at P297.3 billion. Its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved to 2.53 times from 2.56 times at end-2025.

A REIT gives PLDT a way to recycle capital. Instead of waiting for data center income to come in over many years, PLDT can monetize part of the value upfront by selling shares in the REIT. It can then use the proceeds for debt repayment, reinvestment, and other legally allowed uses.

The tradeoff is that a portion of future income from the REIT assets will now belong to public shareholders. But because ePLDT would still own a majority stake, PLDT keeps control and continues to benefit from the REIT’s dividends and future growth.

For now, VITRO REIT is still subject to regulatory approvals, market conditions, and other applicable approvals.

The next major milestone for investors is the release of the final prospectus, which acts as the official handbook before the stock begins trading. This will detail the expected annual cash payouts, the market value of the facilities, and how much debt the business carries. It will also map out exactly which data centers will be part of the REIT, who is renting space inside the data centers, how long those contracts last, how much total capacity is currently being used, and any other risks to watch out for. – Rappler.com

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