Centurion Real Estate Will Debut On The MAB In July

27 June 2017 – Expansión

Shareholders of the blood products manufacturer Grifols are finalising the debut on the stock market of Centurion Real Estate, a Socimi that is owned in its entirety by Scranton Enterprises. Scranton is a holding company headquartered in The Netherlands, which owns 8.67% of the Catalan company Grifols. The real estate company will start to trade on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in July, according to financial sources.

Centurion was founded in 2014 in Barcelona – where its headquarters are located – with the aim of “identifying acquisition opportunities in the real estate market for their subsequent management and operation under lease contracts”, according to Scranton.

Scranton

Grifols sources admitted yesterday that members of the family that controls the pharmaceutical group are some of the around twenty shareholders of the Dutch holding company and they said that board members, former board members, directors and former directors of the Spanish company participate in the business – which has its registered office in Amsterdam – although they did not reveal the composition of the shareholders.

Centurion is chaired by Juan Javier Roura, who used to be responsible for Treasury and Risk Control at Grifols until 2015, where he previously served as Finance Director. Other members of the board of directors include Jordi Fabregas, Núria Martín and Tomás Dagá, founding partners of the law firm Osborne Clarke in Spain; Dagá is also a director of Grifols and of some of the group’s subsidiaries.

The Socimi closed last year with own funds of €61.33 million, up by more than ten times compared to 2105. Its turnover amounted to €5.28 million, almost 5% higher than last year. Its profit reached €2.27 million and the company distributed €1.82 million in dividends.

In light of its imminent debut on the MAB, the company has prepared an audited report of its activity during the first four months of 2017, a period in which its turnover amounted to €1.71 million and its profit reached €421,591.

Grifols’ buildings

According to the same document, Centurion Real Estate is the owner of four buildings, currently occupied by Grifols in the city of Barcelona (Calle Jesús y María) and in the Barcelonan suburb of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Avenida de la Generalitat), where the group has its headquarters. In March, the Socimi formalised the acquisition of retail premises in Plaza Francesc Macià, 10, in Barcelona, on the ground floor of Winterthur’s former headquarters for €50 million.

To undertake its business, Centurion signed a €40 million mortgage loan with BBVA in October 2016 and a €10 million loan with Santander in February 2017.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Orihuel and M. Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake