Spanish property portfolio moves towards flotation

The portfolio includes 1,150 Santander branches in Spain
The portfolio includes 1,150 Santander branches in Spain
PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A €2.2 billion Spanish property deal brokered by Hugh Osmond’s Sun Capital Partners at the top of the market has been restructured in advance of a possible flotation.

Banks including BNP Paribas, La Caixa and Santander and international hedge funds have agreed to swap €400 million of junior debt for a majority equity stake in a portfolio of about 1,150 Santander bank branches across Spain, according to EuroProperty.

Sources said that after the consensual debt-for-equity swap, Sun Capital’s interest in the portfolio would be diluted, but that the restructuring was needed to stabilise the portfolio’s capital structure in advance of plans to float it as a Spanish real estate investment trust, a tax-efficient vehicle for owning property.

Mr Osmond, a founding investor in PizzaExpress, led