Hispania Buys 80.5% Of Socimi Bay For €123M

20 October 2015 – Expansión

The real estate company Hispania and the hotel chain Barceló are pushing ahead with the launch of their Socimi Bay, dedicated exclusively to hotel assets. After signing a partnership agreement in April, Hispania closed the purchase of 80.5% of the company through its subsidiary, Hispania Real, for €123 million, yesterday. The remaining 19.5% is owned by Barceló. The consideration was paid entirely in cash, with an initial disbursement of €95 million paid in May as an advance.

Currently, Bay is the owner of 11 hotels – which are all operated by the Barceló Group through a rental contract – with 3,946 rooms in total, located in the Balearic Islands, Huelva, Almería and above all, the Canary Islands (three in Fuerteventura, one in Lanzarote and another one in Tenerife). Moreover, it is the owner of a shopping centre in Fuerteventura. These assets have a purchase price of €207 million and a current appraisal value of €229 million.

Having completed this first phase, the Socimi is going to incorporate five other hotels and one new shopping centre into its portfolio in a second phase, which is expects to complete before the end of 2015. These assets are valued at €227.5 million, which means that before the start of 2016, the Socimi Bay will have 16 hotels and two shopping centres worth €456.5 million.

In addition to its majority stake in Bay, the real estate company Hispania, in which George Soros and John Paulson hold stakes, also owns other assets worth more than €700 million, including several resort hotels with another 1,918 rooms. Hispania’s share price closed down 0.75% on the stock exchange yesterday at €12.52 per share. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

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