Bankia Will Get Best Price For Its Stake In Realia Regardless Of Who Wins Bid

9 March 2015 – Expansión

Battle for the real estate company / Slim has committed to pay Bankia the difference between the price agreed for the purchase of its 24.9% stake and the eventual winning bid.

Bankia will win regardless (of who turns out to be the evenutal victor) in the takeover war being waged by Carlos Slim and the Socimi Hispania Real for Realia. The financial institution, a historical shareholder in the real estate company, together with FCC, will obtain the same profit as the other shareholders, despite having sold its stake to the Mexican tycoon last Wednesday.

According to information submitted by Inmobiliaria Carso to the CNMV, the company controlled by Slim has guaranteed Bankia a payment to cover the difference, if the evenutal successful offer (price) for Realia is higher than the amount received by the bank.

The entity chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri sold Slim the 24.95% stake that it held in Realia for €0.58 per share, and therefore it received €44.48 million. The offer exceeded the only firm acquisition proposal made up until that point by 18%, which had been submitted by the Socimi Hispania; its offer for 100% of Realia amounted to €0.49 per share.

Both proposals fell significantly below the average trading price of Realia’s shares on the stock exchange. On Friday, after Expansión published that Slim was negotiating an agreement with Hispania to take control of the real estate company, its share price decreased by 3.33% to €0.725, bringing its market capitalisation to €222.8 million.

Hispania’s takeover bid values Realia at just over €150 million, compared with Slim’s offer, which places a value of €178 million on the company.

Both takeover bids are voluntary in nature. Nevertheless, the CNMV may force both candidates to improve their respective offers and bring them closer to the average share (trading) price recorded in recent months. That happened in the case of Deoleo, when the regulator forced the venture capital fund CVC to increase its offer from €0.38/share for the oil group to €0.395/share. On that occasion, the fund also extended the higher bid price to the financial institutions from which it had previously purchased shares in Deoleo.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake