BCP to Incorporate Two Real Estate Firms After Injections of €40 Million

11 November 2018

Enerparcela and Sadamora were ceded to BCP by way of payment for outstanding loans held by two real estate funds. Since then, the bank has had to inject capital into the two companies, partially for the payment of bank loans. The bank will now absorb them, and they will cease to exist as independent entities.

Banco Comercial Português will absorb and subsequently extinguish two real estate management companies that have been in its possession since 2013. The two companies came as part of real estate funds that were ceded to BCP in lieu of payment of outstanding loans. The two companies have required a total of at least 40 million euros in capital injections.

Enerparcela – Empreendimentos Imobiliários and Sadamora – Real Estate Investments are the two companies that will be incorporated into BCP, which is currently helmed by Miguel Maya. The bank took possession of both companies in 2013. Now they will be absorbed and extinguished.

In a notice dated October 11, the bank stated that the transaction is justified “by regulatory and strategic reasons related to the management of this type of company owned directly or indirectly by BCP as a result of enforcement proceedings.”

Enerparcela had belonged to the Multiusos Oriente real estate fund since 2010. Ownership of the fund, and, indirectly, of the company, was transferred to the bank in lieu of payment of outstanding debts. The same happened with Sadamora, owned by the Gran Urban fund. Interfundos, BCP’s fund management company, took control of both.

“The incorporation of these two companies held by real estate funds 100% owned by the bank since 2013 will allow for efficiency gains through streamlined corporate governance processes and operating structures, as well as achieving commercial benefits arising from an integrated approach to the market.”

BCP has had a series of costs with the two companies. According to calculations made by the Jornal de Negócios, based on the capital increases registered in the Portal of Justice, the bank has injected 9.7 million euros in Sadamora since 2013. Enerparcela required greater levels of capital, with total reinforcements reaching 31.65 million euros.

Of that total, approximately €28 million served not only to strengthen the company’s capital base but also to pay off Enerparcela’s bank debt. The bank raised funds for the injection from the sale of properties managed by the Multiusos fund.

In total, the bank injected a total of 42.35 million euros into the companies since the funds were transferred to BCP in 2013.

The costs associated with the two companies may grow, however, considering that the companies were owned by funds whose holders failed to repay loans as well and that the funds were delivered in lieu or loan repayments. The bank declined to enumerate its losses with the two firms, stating that they are “currently valued at fair value.” The bank also declined to name the former owners.

According to the individual balance sheets attached to the plan for incorporation – which will be the subject of a general assembly November 30, to decide on “possible losses” on the transfer of their respective assets. Enerparcela has equity of 20.2 million euros, while Sadamora has a total of €34.4 million, minimal ​​compared to BCP’s almost 5.7 billion euros of equity.

BCP also owns other real estate companies, though they will not be incorporated: “The management of the subsidiaries is dynamic, with constant valuations, with the intention of finding opportunities to improve the bank’s operational efficiency.”

The two companies that BCP will absorb

The bank expects to achieve efficiency gains by merging with the two real estate companies. The streamlined company and management structure will allow BCP to act in a more efficient and integrated way in the market.

Enerparcela – Real estate developments

The company belonged to Multiusos Oriente, a real estate fund responsible for the development of the same name in Moscavide. The fund is currently being managed by Interfundos, and the bank has been the sole owner of all its units since September 2013, via payment in kind. The fund began operation in 2006 and acquired the company in 2010. Eduardo Nunes Rodrigues, who founded the bankrupt Obriverca with Luís Filipe Vieira, was the president of Enerparcela.

Sadamora – Real Estate Investments

Sadamora belongs to the Grand Urban Investment Fund. The fund has also been managed by Interfundos since 2012 and was transferred to the bank in October 2013. All the fund’s units – all of which were previously held by a single owner, whom the bank declined to identify – passed to BCP in lieu of payment for debts. The company owns real estate assets, including the Quinta da Amora in Setúbal.

Original Story: Jornal de Negócios – Diogo Cavaleiro

Photo: Lusa

Translation: Richard Turner