Spanish lender Banco Santander has become the majority owner of privately-held property group Metrovacesa after having acquired a 19% stake in the Madrid-based developer-investor from BFA-Bankia Group, Spain's largest nationalised lender, for around €100 mln.
Spanish lender Banco Santander has become the majority owner of privately-held property group Metrovacesa after having acquired a 19% stake in the Madrid-based developer-investor from BFA-Bankia Group, Spain's largest nationalised lender, for around €100 mln.
The acquisition brings Santander's stake in Metrovacesa to nearly 56%. Lenders BBVA, Banco Sabadell, and Banco Popular own the remaining stake in the company, which owns over 1.1 million m2 of office, retail , land plots and other commercial assets largely located in Madrid and in Barcelona.
Bankia said last month that it planned to sell its 19% stake in Metrovacesa before the end of the year.
Metrovacesa had a market capitalisation of €2.25 bn before being taken private by its creditor banks and main shareholders in May 2013 in an attempt to reduce costs. Banks Santander, BBVA, Sabadell and Popular launched a tender offer to delist the real estate company after over 70 years of trading history. Bankia at the time agreed to support the move without participating in the tender.
Madrid-based Metrovacesa has been controlled by the banks since its former owner the Sanahuja family exchanged debt for shares in February 2009.
The company has since been selling assets to reduce its debt load. In November 2012, it divested the landmark Access Tower in Frankfurt as part of its strategy to withdraw from foreign markets and refocus on its domestic business.
Earlier this year, the company divested its 27% holding in French listed property firm Gecina for a total of €1.6 bn.