Tag: appointments

7 October 2015 – Cinco Días

The tycoon Carlos Slim is starting to introduce his own people into the real estate company Realia. Yesterday, he appointed two new members to the Board of Directors, including Juan Rodríguez Torres, who will serve as the non-executive Chairman.

Slim controls the property company, which was founded in 2000 with assets from Bankia and FCC, through his company Inmobiliaria Carso.

He took control after purchasing a 24.9% stake in the share capital from Bankia at the beginning of this year. Moreover, he indirectly controls 36.88% of Realia’s capital through his majority shareholding in FCC.

The new Chairman is a man who Slim trusts completely. The two men are the same age (75) and both studied Civil Engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. They have also served together as directors on the boards of several companies owned by Slim, the second richest man in the world, according to Forbes. Rodríguez takes over from Ignacio Bayón, who has held the post since Realia was constituted and who is now retiring.

Several other changes were communicated to the CNMV, including the resignation of Iñigo Aldaz, the CEO – Slim has not yet revealed who will take over his role.

Realia is restructuring its Board of Directors after Slim won the takeover war that was waged with Hispania, in which George Soros holds a stake, to take over the control of the real estate company in June.

The company also appointed the Mexican CEO of FCC, Carlos Jarque, as a member of the Board of Directors of the construction company.

Moreover, Alicia Alcocer Koplowitz and Esther Alcocer Koplowitz will continue as members of the Board, in their capacity as representatives of FCC. Meanwhile, Gerardo Kuri, Slim’s key man at Cementos Portland, also controlled by the tycoon, will enter as a shareholder-director.

Improvement in Realia’s asset value

Meanwhile, the company also reported that it has established a new accounting policy whereby the valuation of its assets would have increased from €912 million as at 31 December 2014, when they were valued at acquisition cost, to a fair value of €1,399 million. “The impact of this measure on the company’s own funds, at the consolidated level, would have been an increase of approximately €367 million”, said a source at the company.

According to Realia, through this decision, the company is bringing itself in line with the standard practices of the main listed real estate companies in Spain. They are also improving the transparency of the communication of the company’s value to the market, since the fair value method, endorsed by an independent expert, more adequately reflects the value of the assets of real estate companies.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake