Chinese conglomerate Fosun is to mount a full takeover of Paref, the listed French manager of €1.3 bn of real estate, later this year.
Paref announced on Friday that Fosun Property Europe had completed the €45 mln acquisition of almost 605,000 shares from the French firm's four largest shareholders. Fosun paid €73 per share.
The transaction equates to more than 50% of Paref's capital and voting rights. As a result, Fosun's European business is obliged to mount a mandatory offer for the entire share capital of the company. It is expected to make this offer, again at €73 a share, in the second half of 2017.
Fosun plans to maintain Paref's listing on Euronext Paris and the company's SIIC or French real estate investment trust status.
Paref operates principally as a commercial and residential investor in and outside the Paris region, as well as managing properties on behalf of third parties through Paref Gestion, a subsidiary which manages six SCPIs and three OPCIs. At end-December 2016, Paref owned €167 mln in property assets, and managed assets worth €1.3 bn on behalf of third parties.
Fosun Property Holdings is the property investment and management platform of Fosun Group, a conglomerate with more than RMB 150 bn (€25 bn) of assets under management.
The group was founded as an insurer in 1992 by four people, including Guo Guangchang, a billionaire often described as China's Warren Buffett.
Fosun has since branched out into other industries, including the European real estate sector where it has formed a partnership with Resolution Property. Earlier this year Fosun came in second place in the Newcomer category of PropertyEU's Deal of the Decade Awards for its €350 mln acquisiton of Palazzo Broggi in Milan.
Image: Guo Guangchang
