Inmobiliaria Colonial is postponing the sale of 10% of its majority stake in the French SIIC Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise (SFL) until the credit market stabilises. 'We will sell the stake as soon as the market situation improves,' Colonial's Mariano Miguel told newspaper El Pais.
Inmobiliaria Colonial is postponing the sale of 10% of its majority stake in the French SIIC Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise (SFL) until the credit market stabilises. 'We will sell the stake as soon as the market situation improves,' Colonial's Mariano Miguel told newspaper El Pais.
Colonial had planned to decrease its stake in SFL from 85% after the summer to comply with the latest legislation on SIICs, the French equivalent of a real estate investment trust. Under the SIIC 4 law a single shareholder may hold no more than 60% of a SIIC from 2009.
Colonial may use the funds from a sale to pay back part of a credit loan of more than EUR 7 bn, as well as to help finance the EUR 2 bn acquisition of its Spanish retail unit Riofisa. Riofisa's board approved the delisting of its shares last week prior to the execution of its merger with Colonial. Colonial currently owns 99.4% of Riofisa.
