15 November 2018 – El Economista
Realia has launched a capital increase amounting to €149 million, with preferential subscription rights, through which Carlos Slim is going to make a new capital injection into the real estate company that he controls in Spain.
This increase follows another two that the firm has carried out since 2015, when the Mexican magnate took control of the company and which have been used to clean up the firm and reduce its debt.
By virtue of the new operation, Realia is going to issue 175.45 million new shares at €0.85 per share, a price that represents a discount of 7.5% with respect to the firm’s current share price, which closed trading on the stock market on Thursday at €0.923.
The operation is going to be launched once approval has been received from Spain’s National Securities and Markets Commission (CNMV). Current shareholders will have preferential subscription rights, which means that they may request new shares at a rate of three new shares for every eleven that they already own.
Carlos Slim controls 70.76% of Realia’s share capital, 33.8% in a direct way and 36.9% through FCC, a construction group that he also controls. The Mexican businessman has participated in all of the capital increases that Realia has undertaken until now.
Realia is launching a new capital increase after reactivating its construction and house sale business, which has been suspended since the start of the crisis.
The company also has a portfolio of assets spanning a surface area of around 500,000 m2, comprising office buildings and shopping centres, including one of the Kio Towers in Plaza Castilla, Madrid.
The real estate firm, which has suspended its dividend since 2009, closed the first nine months of this year with a profit of €24 million and a turnover of €70 million. The firm has total debt amounting to €672 million.
Original story: El Economista
Translation: Carmel Drake