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Cerberus Joins the Bidding For Realia As Colonial Quits

29/10/2014 – El Confidencial

New players appear at the game with Realia at stake. After turning a deaf ear to the summer offer of Colonial, the company controlled by FCC and Bankia has decided to enter in talks with other investors. According to several sources with knowledge of the process, vulture fund Cerberus now positions as the favorite.

The interest of Colonial drove the shares of Realia on the stock up to the sky, reaching a price of 1.5 Euros each. Since then, however, the value dropped one third.

The bid of Colonial included a set of conditions which Realia could not accept, such as the purchase of the Patrimonio division only. That arm embraced office buildings of the company, especially tempting for Juan Miguel Villar Mir, the majority stakeholder in Colonial. At the same time, the offer rejected the Promoción branch, encompassing land and development activity of the group.

Still, none of the stakeholders accepted the bid of Colonial that barged in the middle of the process, until then dominated by funds like AEW, Fortress or King Street.

Lack of response on the part of Realia could be explained by grave financial problems of one of its supervisor, FCC, which delayed the obligations of the real estate firm for around a year. The builder’s holder, Esther Koplowitz, is going to merger her two property managers allowing her to control 50.1% of FCC, B-1998 and Dominum. The fusion is a part of agreement with lenders on refinancing the businesswoman’s €1 billion debt (news from: El Mundo). The amount has been reduced to the present state due to the sale of 60% in SIIC de Paris by Realia.

 

Original article: El Confidencial (by Marcos Lamelas & Carlos Hernanz)

Translation: AURA REE