Lone Star Puts 20% Of Neinor Homes Up For Sale

14 September 2017 – El Confidencial

Lone Star, the fund that controls Neinor Homes, has put up for sale 20% of the share capital in the property developer. The stake represents half of its current shareholding in the company, a percentage worth around €304 million, based on current market prices.

At the close of trading yesterday, the listed company’s share price had barely moved, up slightly by 0.26%, to €19.25 per share. So far this year, Neinor’s share price has risen by 17%.

This is the first divestment that the fund is making of it stake of around 40% that it holds in Neinor, after placing the other 60% in the IPO that took place in March. Following this new share sale, Lone Star will reduce its controlling stake in the company led by Juan Velayos (pictured above) to around 19.5%.

By virtue of the operation, Lone Star has put the shares up for sale through an accelerated placement, aimed at institutional and qualifying investors. The package comprises 15.81 million shares in Neinor, representing 20% of its share capital, according to a statement filed with Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

Other shareholders of the real estate company, which the fund constituted in 2015 with the real estate assets that it purchased from Kutxabank, include institutional investors, such as Fidelity, with a 6.8% stake, Adar Capital Partners and Invesco (2.3%).

The businessman Juan Abelló has also backed Neinor, in which he has invested around €7.3 million through his Sicav, equivalent to around 0.5% of its share capital.

Boost to the business plan

In addition, the share sale comes at the same time as the acceleration that Neinor is giving to its business strategy, through which it hopes to put between 3,500 and 4,000 new homes on the market between now and 2020, thanks to €150 million financing that it recently raised with JP Morgan.

Nevertheless, the company does not rule out reviewing its plan, given that this financing will allow it to bring forward its land purchases and whereby take advantage of the “great opportunities” that it says currently abound in the Spanish residential real estate market, which is in the middle of its recovery.

According to its data, Neinor already owns “one of the largest portfolios of buildable land in Spain”, which will allow it to build 10,700 homes in total, in Madrid, Cataluña, the Balearic Islands, País Vasco, Andalucía and Valencia, making it the largest property developer in the country.

Currently, the firm has 65 housing developments under way, where it is building 4,300 new homes, nine of which have been launched since April.

Original story: El Confidencial

Translation: Carmel Drake