Gecina dusts off share buyback plan

Paris-listed property company Gecina said on Wednesday that its board has proposed re-launching the share buyback programme that was blocked by French financial regulator AMF last December. The share buyback is crucial for the resumption of the planned demerger from Spanish real estate group Metrovacesa. Gecina said it expected to hold extraordinary shareholders meeting to approve the buyback by the end of the year.

The objection raised by France's Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) appears to have been overcome since the buyback was rejected last year. AMF had issued a judgement saying that the share buyback was unfair as it would leave shareholders Joaquin Rivero and Bautista Soler with such a large joint holding, or over 42% of the company, that they would be forced to make a joint takeover offer for Gecina.

In an amendment made to the separation agreement, Gecina noted it has now been ensured that Rivero and Soler will have combined interests in Gecina of less than one-third of its capital and voting rights, or the threshold at which they would be required to make a full bid according to French takeover law.

Splitting up Gecina and Metrovacesa is designed to end a long running dispute between Metrovacesa's main shareholders, the Sanahuja family on one side and Rivero and Soler on the other. Gecina's board last November had agreed transfer 37 real estate assets, valued at around EUR 1.9bn, to Medea, 96.7% owned by the Sanahuja family's holding company. The board also approved the buyback offer for up to 13.9 million Gecina shares, to be paid for in Medea shares, which originally met the objection of the French regulator.