Tag: Armanext

A Spanish Socimi Debuts on the Paris Stock Market to Avoid the MAB’s Requirements

26 July 2018 – Idealista

Some of Spain’s Socimis are looking beyond the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in search of visibility, prestige…and one or more regulatory benefits. Logis Confort, the Socimi owned by the Valencian property developer and construction firm CV Grupo, has become the first in Spain to list on the Euronext exchange.

The company made its debut on the stock market headquartered in Paris on 13 July, at a price of €2.20 per share and a market capitalisation of more than €11 million; its portfolio comprises seven assets. Together its assets span a surface area of 23,521 m2 and are worth around €15 million, according to Gesvalt’s calculations.

Logis Confort is dedicated to the rental of industrial and logistics buildings. Founded in 2001 by Salvador Vila Arcos, the owner of CV Grupo (which specialises in building and leasing industrial warehouses and spaces), the company adopted the Socimi structure in August 2016. The firm, which has been advised by Armanext (the largest Spanish advisor in taking Socimis to the European stock market) has its headquarters in San Fernando de Henares, in Madrid.

The company is currently working on medium- and long-term projects and its aim is the acquisition of buildings, through purchase or development, in areas “with a great industrial tradition and close to large Spanish cities, to transfer them for rent”, according to the firm. The group’s shareholders include Salvador Vila Arcos, who owns 50% of the capital; Edelmiro Copoví, who owns 25%; and his brother José Manuel Copoví, who owns the remaining 25%.

The company’s shareholder structure is, precisely, one of the features that draws the most attention. Since it does not have any minority shareholders, the vehicle cannot trade on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) where all of Spain’s other Socimis are listed, with the exception of the largest, which trade on the traditional stock market. It was just a year ago, when the manager of the market decided to tighten up the rules and, since then, it has forced these types of companies to have a minimum quantity of minority shareholders to approve their stock market debuts (…).

Therefore, since it did not have any minority shareholders, it soon became clear that the Socimi would have to undertake the operation on another European market. And Euronext is the one that establishes the fewest requirements in this regard, specifically the market called Euronext Access (there is another one called ‘Growth’, which establishes more onerous requirements). As such, it was chosen for the firm’s stock market debut to allow it to maintain the tax benefits that are afforded to Socimis (…).

Logis’s portfolio

Logis Confort has a portfolio of assets comprising seven industrial properties and several parking lots in Madrid and Valencia, two markets that are being boosted by the improvement in the economy, the recovery in exports, domestic consumption and e-commerce. By market value and surface area, the jewel in Logis Confort’s crown is the logistics warehouse located in Picassent, in Valencia, which spans 11,800 m2 and has a market value of €8 million. That property is leased to Facil Europe and Transfesa.

Also in Valencia, the Socimi owns assets in Almussafers and Ribarroja, which together have a market value of €6 million and span an industrial space of more than 10,700 m2. In Madrid, the company owns a logistics property in San Fernando de Henares, leased to Transecort Logistics, which has a market price of less than €1 million (…).

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja and Ana P. Alarcos)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s First Listing Sponsor is Launched: Armanext

17 April 2018 – Eje Prime

From the Alternative Investment Market to Euronext. Some of the team members from Armabex, the company that specialises in the incorporation of Socimis onto the MAB, have joined forces for the launch of Armanext, the first listing sponsor (registered advisor) in Spain authorised by the leading stock market in the Eurozone, Euronext, which integrates the stock markets in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Dublin.

The company is going to be able to advise, supervise and coordinate the admission of Socimis and SMEs onto the following markets: Euronext Access Paris, Euronext Access Lisbon, Euronext Growth Paris and Euronext Growth Lisbon. The companies that start trading on Euronext will have access to a market comprising around 1,300 companies and more than 5,000 investors around the world.

“From now on, Spanish Socimis are going to be able to comply with the requirement to be listed on an organised market such as the main Euronext market or on a Multi-lateral Trading System such as the Euronext Access and Euronext Growth markets, as permitted by the regulations”. “The pan-European stock market allows companies to opt for more flexible (financing) conditions adapted to suit family groups and SMEs, which require the intervention of an authorised listing sponsor (…)”.

Armanext is going to be led by Antonio Fernández, President of Armabex, Ana Hernández and Rafael Núñez. Hernández will provide experience in the securities and Socimi markets, whilst Núñez has a well-established track record in tax matters and business restructurings, gained during his time as a partner of two Spanish audit firms.

In September last year, Euronext opened offices in Spain, Italy, Germany and Switzerland with the aim of helping SMEs in those countries to develop their businesses on a larger scale through the securities markets.

Since then, several Spanish and European companies have expressed their interest in listing on Euronext and entering the Pan-European market. In the last month alone, two new companies joined Euronext from outside their domestic markets. On the one hand, the British pharmaceutical company Acacia Pharma made its debut on the Euronext Growth in Brussels whilst, on the other hand, the Italian company specialising in dental technology MediaLab started trading its shares on the Euronext Access market in Paris.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake