Realia sells another 5% of its French SIIC

Spanish real estate company Realia is selling 5% of its French unit Sociedad SIIC to Garber Investments for EUR 35.7 mln. The stake is being sold at EUR 366 per share, compared to the EUR 300 per share Realia paid last year when it bought 87% of SIIC.

Realia said the sale was part of the process of complying with new legislation on SIICs, the French version of real estate investment trusts. The legislation introduced last year limits individual shareholders from holding more than 60% of a SIIC from January 2009. Realia has already its stake from 83% to 78%.

The sale is the third of its kind in the last year, after the sale of 5% to Marlolan in June and 5% to Dos Mil Doscientos Uno in November.

Realia is a joint venture between Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) and Caja Madrid.