Lisbon Stock Exchange with new listed company. Sonae and Bankinter’s REIT reaches a value of 50.2 million

  • ECO News
  • 23 June 2020

This is the first real estate investment and management company to be listed on the Portuguese stock exchange.

The Lisbon stock exchange will get another listing. Ores – the first real estate investment and management company (REIT) in Portugal – will be admitted to trading on Wednesday. With an initial price of four euros for each of the 12.55 shares that will be listed, the company arrives with a market capitalization of 50.2 million euros.

Olimpo Real Estate Portugal (or Ores Portugal) became the first REIT created in Portugal in December 2019 and results from a partnership between Bankinter and Sonae Sierra.

The REIT scheme requires the vehicle to enter the stock exchange within one year of being set up. Despite the pandemic, Ores has already decided to do so, as Euronext announced this Tuesday in a statement. The company is currently 12% owned by Bankinter and 5.14% by Sonae Sierra, and 83% of the capital would be dispersed in the stock market. Isabel Ucha, Euronext Lisbon’s CEO, considers that the admission “shows the partners’ continuous commitment and confidence in the Portuguese economy,” underlining her hope that “it will allow the company to apply its investment strategy in Portugal, innovating and expanding its business.”

The company’s aim is to create an asset management portfolio above 200 million euros. Alexandre Fernandes, head of asset management Europe at Sonae Sierra, stresses that “the creation of the first REIT in Portugal and its subsequent IPO are very important steps for Sonae Sierra, as part of its strategy to increase exposure to new real estate investment vehicles,” adding that he hopes that the initiative and the strategic partnership with Bankinter will certainly allow the capital market and the Portuguese real estate investment market to become more dynamic.”

Although there is already a real estate investment and management company on the Portuguese stock exchange – Merlin Properties – this company only has this category in Spain and not in Portugal. Thus, this is the first time that the Portuguese stock exchange has a REIT, a popular vehicle in other countries. In the indices managed by the Euronext group alone, there are around 100 issuers in the sector, representing a market capitalization of 84 billion euros.

“Ores’ entry into the stock market shows that Bankinter continues to make innovative financial services and instruments available in Portugal, broadening the range of investment options available to our clients and the general public. This operation, pioneering in Portugal, also reaffirms our commitment to the economic development of the country and represents an important contribution to the dynamization of one of its most relevant sectors”, adds Alberto Ramos, country manager of Bankinter Portugal.