REALIA Business, a group owned by FCC and Caja Madrid, continues to expand abroad and has acquired a number of buildings in Paris through subsidiary SIIC de Paris. The price of the acquisition is approximately 300 million euro. The acquisition is a decisive move in the company's policy of diversifying in terms of both product type and location. REALIA's focus on internationalisation is reflected in the fact that it has invested over 1 billion euro in France so far this year.
REALIA has expanded its rental portfolio by acquiring a number of office buildings in Paris for close to 300 million euro It has acquired three buildings, located at 85-89 Quai André Citroën (15th arrondissement); 2, rue du 4 septembre (2nd arrondissement); and 2, Place Maurice Quentin (1st arrondissement).
The buildings have a total floor area of 33,023 square metres above grade, comprising 27,977 sq. metres of offices, 1,080 sq. metres of commercial space and 3,966 sq. metres for other activities. They also have a total of 433 parking spaces. The occupancy rate is 99% and tenants include the French Ministry of Justice, the Electricity Regulatory Commission and the National Centre for Space Studies. All the buildings are of excellent quality, in privileged locations with superb communications.
The acquisition seeks to further Realia's strategy, based on functional and territorial diversification, and confirms the growth target set by the Group when it was created in 2000. REALIA has made significant progress in internationalisation in 2006 due to the acquisition of SIIC de Paris, a company that is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, and of Lafarge's headquarters building, in one of Paris's prime districts.
In June 2006, REALIA announced the acquisition of SIIC de Paris for 586 million euro. It also spent 151 million euro to acquire the Lafarge building. Overall, the company has invested over 1 billion euro in France.
After incorporating the newly-acquired buildings, SIIC de Paris will have close to 35 buildings in portfolio, with a total of 135,000 square metres above grade, basically offices. Its assets are in prime locations in Paris's central business districts.
This investment policy forms part of the strategy designed by the core shareholders for a forthcoming IPO of Realia.
The French market
SIIC de Paris is a unique springboard for entering the French market, the largest, and one of the most stable and transparent property markets in the European Union, which has a very favourable taxation system. REALIA continues to expand abroad, having established itself in Portugal and commenced operations in Poland.
The REALIA Group
REALIA has over 500,000 square metres of rental property, in a portfolio of landmark buildings in prime locations in Spain, France and Portugal.
With a gross total of 10.3 million square metres, REALIA is one of Spain's largest property companies. REALIA is currently developing over 100 projects, involving 8,500 dwellings, in the main coastal and inland cities.
The group is also a very active player in shopping and leisure centres, an area in which it has extensive experience. It currently has four new projects under way in this market in Spain: Ferial Plaza in Guadalajara, Parque Comercial Plaza Nueva in Leganés (Madrid), As Cancelas in Santiago de Compostela, and La Noria Outlet Shopping in Murcia. Other landmark centres in Realia's portfolio include El Jardín de Serrano, Diversia and La Vaguada in Madrid, Nervión Plaza in Sevilla and Twin Towers in Lisbon.
