Spain's Bankia seeks buyer for Metrovacesa stake

BFA-Bankia Group, Spain's largest nationalised lender, has unveiled plans to sell its 19% stake in property developer-investor Metrovacesa before the end of the year.

Bankia has hired Credit Suisse to market the stake, which is expected to fetch some €300 mln, according to Spanish press reports.

Metrovacesa had a market capitalisation of €2.25 bn before being taken private by its creditor banks and main shareholders in May 2013 in an attempt to reduce costs.

Banks Santander, BBVA, Sabadell and Popular - the main shareholders in Metrovacesa with a combined 76.4% - launched a tender offer to delist the real estate company after over 70 years of trading history. Bankia at the time agreed to support the move without participating in the tender.

The price was set at €2.28 per share, valuing the entire transaction at just less than €100 mln. Following the deal, Banco Santander owned a 36.9% stake in the company, followed by Bankia with 19%, BBVA with 18.3%, Banco Sabadell with 13% and Banco Popular with 12.6%.

The Madrid-based property group has been controlled by the banks since its former owner the Sanahuja family exchanged debt for shares in February 2009.

The company has since been selling assets to reduce its debt load. In November 2012, it divested the landmark Access Tower in Frankfurt as part of its strategy to withdraw from foreign markets and refocus on its domestic business.

Earlier this year, the Madrid-based group divested its 27% holding in French listed property firm Gecina for a total of €1.6 bn.