• Transaction / Assets
    Companhia Aurifícia Sold to Owners of Telhabel and International Investors
  • Seller
    Edificios Atlântico, the Pinto Leite family and BPI
  • Buyer
    PVBRAGASINVEST
  • € MM
    10

Companhia Aurifícia: “Jewel” of Downtown Porto Sold to Owners of Telhabel and International Investors

27 June 2018

The property occupies 1.6 hectares in a graded block of the Rua de Álvares Cabral, in downtown Porto and is considered an “exceptional site” by the Portuguese state. On sale since 2013, the Companhia Aurifícia was finally acquired for about 10 million euros. The new owners are the brothers Pedro and Vasco Couto, the owners of Telhabel, and the investors Gonzalo Alvargonzalez Figaredo, of the Ership group, and the Swiss national Daniel Klein. The Porto City Council declined to exercise its right of preference, according to idealista/news.

According to the information from various sources in Porto’s real estate market of Porto, the company PVBRAGASINVEST, which is controlled by the owners of Talhabel and two foreign investors, acquired the shares in Companhia Aurifícia.

Pedro Couto, vice-president of Telhabel, speaking to idealista/news, confirmed the company’s acquisition of Companhia Aurifícia, stating that the process had already started “last year.”

“Aware of the value and importance of this property” to the city, the new owners intend to “preserve the legacy of the Aurifícia.” However, the executive declined to reveal any details regarding the company’s plans for the site, claiming that, at the moment, “it is undergoing a feasibility study to evaluate potential uses.”

Classified as an exceptional asset

The old nail manufacturer, which began operations in 1864 and closed its doors more than a decade ago, is considered a crown jewel of Porto’s industrial architecture. The Company Aurifícia takes up a full city block between the streets of Cedofeita, Álvares Cabral, dos Panes and the Praça da República.

The block includes a set of buildings where families that belonged to the families in the middle and upper bourgeoisie. The homes were built with prized architectural features and were enshrined as being in the Public Interest.

The recognition of the property as being exceptional was accomplished by order of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in December 2012. The Presidential Order highlights the “exceptional legacy that represents the best preserved and coherent example of industrial Porto in the 19th and 20th centuries.”

Process stuck for years

The attempt to sell the Companhia Aurifícia has been going on for nearly a decade, especially after 2013, when the majority shareholders – Edificios Atlântico, the Pinto Leite family and BPI – agreed to sell shares in the company for approximately 10 million euros.

However, investors interested in acquiring the asset only appeared at the end of 2017, and the deal was finalised in February 2018, when a number of shares that were dispersed by several owners were acquired by the investors.

Pedro Couto stated that the investors have capital reserved for acquiring the outstanding shares but that those shares have yet to be presented to the buyers.

City council declined to exercise its pre-emptive right to acquire the property

Over the last decade, a number of parties voiced their belief that the legacy of the property should be preserved. In fact, a number of the last municipal administrations considered the possibility in their urban planning projects.

The parties conveyed the belief that the municipality should exercise its pre-emptive rights to acquire Aurifícia. However, it appears that the fact that the company was sold together with its assets would have blocked the pre-emptive acquisition.

This also seems to be the municipality’s understanding of the situation, considering a statement by the city council’s advisory office. When idealista/news asked “whether [the council] exercised its pre-emptive rights regarding the industrial property,” and the reason for its decision. The answer was that “the Municipality of Porto was not aware of the publication of a notice of sale of the building of Companhia Aurifícia, on Rua dos Bragas, which fell within the scope of the exercise of its pre-emptive rights.”

Ideas contest about the future use for Aurifícia

The Order of Architects, through the Northern Regional Section, promoted an international contest of ideas for the property in 2013.

The winning proposal came from the office of Humberto Silva and Humberto Fonseca. If put into practice, a hotel would be built where a parking lot on Cedofeita street and an artists-residence on Álvares Cabral are currently located.

In the inner perimeter, in addition to an art gallery, the huge block would be transformed into a public park, accessible by passages at the ground level of the various facilities that would be built.

The architect says he was unaware of the sale of Aurifícia, but he assumes he is available to help find a solution for new owners.

Aurifícia owns two valuable assets

The Aurifícia Company, the old nail-making factory, founded in 1864, which the majority of the people in Porto know by its beautiful brick facade on Rua dos Bragas, holds two principal assets.

The most valuable asset is the Aurifícia block, which has a total area of 88,846 m2, with 44,000 square meters (m2) of constructed area – mainly industrial buildings – and 16,000 m2 of public space.

According to the Operational Planning and Management Unit (UOPG 9), prepared by the Porto City Council, in March 2012, the free area in the inner area of the block amounts to 44,000 m2 and the buildings account for 13,000 m2.

The second asset is a 22,000-m2 plot of land for construction in Lapa, and it seems that it can be transformed into a housing project.

Mr Couto noted that the company is also “undertaking a feasibility study to evaluate potential uses for the site.”

Original Story: Idealista – Elisabete Soares

Translation: Richard Turner