Ayala Land Inc or ALI said it was negotiating with IRC Properties Inc to acquire a part of the latter's 2,000-hectare lot in Binangonan, Rizal, Philippines. ALI Vice-President and Chief of the Strategic Landbank Management Group Anna Bautista-Dy said, "That is a very populated area so obviously we are interested in it." She said ALI was conducting the discussions for the acquisition through its subsidiaries. In September, ALI had denied that it was in talks with IRC Properties.

IRC Properties Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Esteban G. Peña Sy told ABS-CBN News, "Before the end of the year, the local partner will come in and we will sell to them...Before the end of the year, 29 hectares will be transacted already." Bautista-Dy said the talks were already in the more advanced stage.

Should the acquisition push through, it would allow the property arm of the Ayala Group to access the real estate market in Binangonan. It would also enable IRC Properties to partner with a strong company, ABS-CBN News reported. Peña Sy, however, said his company was not selling everything.

IRC Properties planned to sell only 50 to 100 hectares of its property in Binangonan. The remaining portion of the land would be offered for joint venture deals, Peña Sy told the media outfit.

IRC Properties officials said the company was already settling the issues that surround the land as the agreement nears its final close. Peña Sy said his company had already begun to pay the claimants of the property in Binangonan. It had also started to clear the land. Earlier, IRC Properties said it had reclassified some portions of the land as residential and commercial lots. The firm said it had also started making wider roads and sacrificed potential commercial areas in the process to pave the way for a major development in the property.