Santander Concludes Transformation Of ‘Banif Properties’ Fund

23 January 2015 – Expansión

Santander has just submitted the prospectus for its new real estate investment company, Luri 6 SII (the entity resulting from the transformation of its ‘Banif Properties’ fund), to the CNMV.

The company announced its intention to convert the fund into a company, at the end of November, and with the publication of this prospectus, which contains the investment policy and company by-laws, this process has now been completed.

The goal of the company is to liquidate the assets that it already holds in its portfolio, estimated to amount to more than €1,500 million.

The entity has closed a number of large transactions in recent months, most notably, the sale of Edificio España to the Chinese group Dalian Wanda for €265 million in June last year. Santander had purchased the landmark building from Metrovacesa in mid-2005.

Sources at the entity say that Santander has no intention of selling this vehicle, which it currently owns outright, and that there are no plans to convert it into a Socimi or list it on any exchange, as various sectors had speculated.

Decline

Banif Properties was the largest fund of its kind, until the financial crisis and the illiquidity of its real estate investments led to its decline.

In 2008, an avalanche of redemptions forced Santander to freeze capital withdrawals from the fund for almost two years, whereby trapping thousands of stakeholders. In 2011, the entity gave them the option of redeeming their stakes, but at a significant loss. Most left the fund. Those investors who did not accept the offer at the time, did so in December and January 2013, when Santander offered to transfer their shares to a newly created monetary fund or redeem them without charging any commission.

Original story: Expansión (by A. Antón)

Translation: Carmel Drake