Metrovacesa 'paid EUR 264m for land valued at EUR 8m'

Spanish largest listed property company Metrovacesa reportedly paid EUR 264 mln last November for 81,000 m² of land in Madrid which had been valued at less than EUR 8 mln in a land registry filing. According to Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias, the three plots of land were valued at just EUR 4 mln in the 2006 accounts of the company that sold the land on behalf of pharmaceutical and prescription food company Alter Group.

Metrovacesa, the paper reported, has said the plots of land were last valued years ago so the figures given did not reflect the true value.

Cinco Dias said the acquisition by Metrovacesa was not reported to the Spanish bourse regulator CNMV until last week. The Spanish property giant first eluded to transaction when it announced earlier this month that it had acquired land positions and proeprty in Madrid and Barcelona for EUR 600 mln. Metrovacesa said it acquired a 8,600 m² office building that requires renovation in Madrid and three plots of land totalling 81,000 m² in the north of the city. The redevelopment will require an investment of EUR 42 mln.

The company plans to develop three business parks on the land sites for a total investment of EUR 400 mln. Another parcel of land was acquired on Manoteras Avenue in Madrid to develop a 12,000 m² office building for an investment of EUR 47 mln. Metrovacesa also a 2,100 m² office property in Madrid for EUR 11.5 mln.

Metrovacesa now has a total of 23 projects, accounting for more than 420,000 m² of space, in its EUR 1.6 bn office development portfolio. announcing its new strategic land in light of the demerger from French proeprty company Gecina, Metrovacesa is to invest up to EUR 4 bn in commercial property across Europe by 2010 in a move aimed at reducing its exposure to the shrinking residential market in Spain.