Listed Italian real estate company Beni Stabili has shelved plans to convert to the new Italian version of a real estate investment trust (REIT) this year. The company will wait until 2009 to decide whether to transform itself into the tax-efficient investment vehicle, known as a SIIQ in Italy.
Listed Italian real estate company Beni Stabili has shelved plans to convert to the new Italian version of a real estate investment trust (REIT) this year. The company will wait until 2009 to decide whether to transform itself into the tax-efficient investment vehicle, known as a SIIQ in Italy.
Beni Stabili has been a strong supporter of the introduction of the SIIQ but the stumbling block relates to main shareholder, France's Fonciere des Regions. The French property company would have to reduce its 68% stake in Beni Stabili to less than 51% in order to comply with the SIIQ legislation. However, the French property company is not inclined to go down that road at the moment as Beni Stabili is currently trading at 45-50% below net asset value.
'We invested in Beni Stabili to create value, not to lose it,' Fonciere chairman Cristophe Kullmann told news agency Reuters. 'We had until 30 April to decide, but we have recognised that we cannot do it in 2008. We'll see what the market conditions are at the end of the year to decide on 2009,' he added.
Italy's government recently introduced legislation to facilitate the creation of SIIQs, which are special investment vehicle offering tax breaks to investors. Several firms have been mulling the launch of a REIT, but to date the only concrete proposals have come from bank Intesa Sanpaolo and property company Aedes.
The SIIQ legislation has been criticised by property professionals for not being attractive enough and lacking clarity in relation to the treatment of foreign investors.
