Is Vista Mall Santa Rosa next to go as the Villars’ debt clock ticks?

VILLAR PROPERTY. Vista Mall Santa Rosa in Laguna.

Rappler

The Villars aren’t saying much about the possible mall sale, but their long-delayed financials hint at billions in debt repayments that could be pushing them to part with some of their prized possessions

AT A GLANCE

• The Villar group is facing heavy debt repayments, leading to the potential sale of retail properties.
• Vista Mall Santa Rosa, which opened in 2015, is reportedly being marketed with an asking price of P8 billion.

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First was AllDay in Libis. Now, possibly, Vista Mall Santa Rosa. As the Villar group faces heavy debt repayments, it seems their once-prized retail locations appear to be up for grabs.

The former AllDay supermarket site along C-5 in Libis, Quezon City, is now with Robinsons Retail Holdings Incorporated, a source with the Gokongwei group confirmed to Rappler. Shopwise is expected to open there by December, just a few steps away from RRHI’s office.

But that might just have been the start. An industry source familiar with the Villars hinted that more properties across the family’s businesses could change hands, with Vista Mall Santa Rosa possibly the latest to be shopped around.

Opened in April 2015 along the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road near Nuvali, Vista Mall Santa Rosa is a sprawling commercial complex housing an AllHome store, supermarket, cinemas, restaurants, and office spaces for BPO tenants. The property has reportedly been advertised online with an P8-billion asking price.

Senior officials at a prominent property brokerage told Rappler they were aware the mall was being marketed, although their firm had yet to approach the Villar group about a deal.

In a disclosure on Friday, October 30, Vista Malls said it had “not accepted any binding offer or entered into any definitive agreement” to sell Santa Rosa. It also said it does not comment on “preliminary, exploratory, or non-binding discussions.”

VistaREIT, another listed company in the group, offered its own narrow clarification, saying there was no definitive transaction involving a transfer of the assets into the real estate investment trust. Vista Land, meanwhile, said it was continually assessing property disposals and options to manage its liquidity.

In its 2025 audited financial statements, released only this October, Vista Land said it had already entered into agreements to dispose of unspecified investment properties after year-end and that the transactions were not recognized in the current set of financials. No properties were specifically identified. (READ: Villar’s Vista Land 2025 net income falls 59% as delayed figures surface)

Carefully chosen words, but none rule out talking to potential buyers.

Could these moves be coming as the Villars struggle to raise cash to meet billions in debt obligations due very soon?

The Villars’ debt pressure is well documented. Vista Land’s 2025 audited report alone identified:

• Around P21.33 billion in notes and bonds scheduled to mature in 2026, based on balances at the end of 2025
• $420 million* (P26.8 billion) in overseas notes maturing in July 2027
• P2 billion in corporate notes being repaid in installments through March 2027
• P2 billion in retail bonds due August 2027

Vista Land’s major shareholders themselves stepped in to finance the company, extending P22.49 billion in interest-bearing loans in 2025 that were used to repay maturing debt.

And that’s just what Vista Land’s (long-delayed) books tell us. Several other listed Villar companies have yet to release their overdue financial statements.

Who knows what other surprises could be hiding in there? – Rappler.com

*$1 = P63.85 based on the October 29, 2026 rate of the Bankers Association of the Philippines