Emperador Properties is already listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange. Filipino magnate Andrew Chong Buan Lim Tan’s Socimi (listed real estate investment company) was released this Monday on BME Growth, the Spanish Stock Exchange’s legacy alternative market. Tan himself, the company’s president, rang the bell on the Madrid parquet floor. The company’s listing code is YEPSA, its registered advisor is Renta 4 Corporate and Renta 4 Banco will act as liquidity provider.
Tan, of Chinese descent, came to the Philippines as a teenager and built a huge business empire that expanded around the world. He is considered the fifth richest man in his country, with a fortune currently estimated at around €2,250 million, according to Forbes. Its main source of income comes from the alcoholic beverages business (it owns the world’s largest brandy distillery) and its first business in Spain was buying wineries in Jerez. But the conglomerate also owns other businesses, including real estate. In Spain this has so far resulted in the purchase of three buildings (or two and a half since only one owns 50%).
Those that have 100% are two high-rise office buildings: the Emperor Tower, one of the four moles that, more than 200 meters high, close the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid; and the Diagonal One Tower, the former headquarters of Telefónica (which still leases part) in Barcelona and 110 meters high. Both assets make up the Sozimi’s portfolio, which started trading this Monday. In the IPO brochure, the first is valued at almost 600 million euros, the second at around 150 million. However, the company has set a price of €4.2 per share, bringing its total value to just over €428.6 million. The liquidity received will be limited: initially only 5% of the company entered the market, which both national and international investors entered according to solid sources.
The other Spanish property owned by the Tan family (his wife Katherine and their son Andrew are also on the board of the new Socimi) is 50% Torre Caleido, known as the Fifth Tower because it is located in the Castilian skyscraper environment. He bought it from Grupo Villar Mir, who was also the original owner of Torre Emperador (then known as Torre Espacio). However, the property on which lawsuits from a tenant are pending due to the construction delay that occurred at the time was not included in the monument. The management justifies this with the different nature of the business, since it is not about office space (commercial use is intended and a private business school and clinic are also installed).
Along with Tan, the two CEOs of Emperador Properties: Jorgue Domecq and Joan Cortés accompanied the ringing of the bell on the Madrid floor. As managing directors, both are part of the five-strong governing body (in addition to the three members of the Tan family) with which the company has started its new stage as Socimi. These types of companies are dedicated to renting out properties they own and benefit from a favorable tax regime in exchange for being listed on the stock exchange and paying out 80% of their dividends annually. It’s a business model that many countries have. In Spain they have proliferated in the last few years of the Great Recession and it is currently one of the countries with the most companies of this type, although most of them are small.
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