Batipart cuts stake in Foncière des Régions

Batipart, the holding vehicle of Charles Ruggieri, has sold a significant part of its interest in French real estate investment trust Foncière des Régions (FdR). The buyers are Delfin - the holding company of Italian billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio – and insurance groups Predica and Assurances du Crédit Mutuel Vie (ACM Vie).

Batipart reduced its stake from 11.5% to roughly 7%, selling nearly 1.4 million FdR shares representing a stake worth EUR 180 mln. FdR's largest shareholder is currently Delfin with a nearly 30% stake. After the transaction, Predica has raised its stake to 7.5%, while ACM Vie controls another 7.5% of the company.

'Thanks to this disposal Batipart will have new capital to invest,' Batipart said in a statement. 'We intend to focus on new projects more in line with our entrepreneurial view in particular by developing two strategic businesses, real estate and healthcare,' it added.

Ruggieri has announced he is to step down as chairman of FdR's supervisory board, and is replaced by Jean Laurent, who will also take up the role of chairman of the board of directors. Christophe Kullmann, currently chairman of the management board, will continue to lead the company's management team and will be appointed CEO.

Earlier this year Batipart and Delfin, at the time the major investors in FdR with 36% of the shares, put an end to a shareholder accord which gave them control of the French office REIT. The five-year pact was signed at the time of FdR's merger with Italy's Beni Stabili in 2007 and was initially planned to last until 2012.

Leonardo del Vecchio, one of Italy's richest men, was the majority owner of Beni Stabili until 2007 when he agreed to swap his stake for an interest in FdR. For the past two years, the entrepreneur has shared control of FdR with Batipart's Charles Ruggieri but sources said that the two investors have not found a 'modus vivendi' to manage the company.