Alteco and Mag Import, the investment vehicles of Spanish property tycoons Joaquin Rivero and Bautista Soler, have filed for administration in what is said to be Spain's fifth-largest bankruptcy case.

Alteco and Mag Import, the investment vehicles of Spanish property tycoons Joaquin Rivero and Bautista Soler, have filed for administration in what is said to be Spain's fifth-largest bankruptcy case.

According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the two investors - who hold a 31% interest in French REIT Gecina - have accumulated liabilities of EUR 1.6 bn.

Rivero and Soler reached an agreement in principle with creditor banks in April this year on an extension of their debt, which was granted on three conditions: a viability plan, a favourable opinion of an independent expert as well as the lifting by a French judge of an embargo on dividends paid by Gecina to Alteco and Mag Import.

However, the French court's decision to lift the embargo on dividends did not arrive on time and as a result, the conditions for the extension were not entirely met.

While 12 creditor banks decided to extend the syndicated loan anyway, bank nummer 13 - Natixis - denied the renewal of the facility, prompting the two investors to file for bankrupcty.