Blackstone Is Said to Weigh Bid for Soros-Backed Hispania
Blackstone Is Said to Weigh Bid for Soros-Backed Hispania
(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP is considering a bid for all of Hispania, the Spanish property company whose shareholders include hedge-fund firms Soros Fund Management LLC and Paulson & Co., as investor appetite for Iberian real estate rebounds, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The New York-based buyout firm is among companies that have been weighing offers for all or parts of Hispania, the people said, asking not to be identified because deliberations are private. Tristan Capital Partners has also been looking at acquiring assets from the Madrid-based company, they said.
Hispania shares rose as much as 5.2 percent and were up 1.3 percent at 3:41 p.m. in Madrid, giving it a market capitalization of around 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion).
No final decisions have been made and both Hispania as well as the potential bidders may still decide against pursuing a deal, the people said. Representatives for Hispania and Blackstone declined to comment and Tristan couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Hispania Activos Inmobiliarios SOCIMI SA, known as Hispania, has sought to sell office assets valued at about 500 million euros since last year, having previously attracted interest from Starwood Capital Group and Swiss Life Holding AG, people familiar with the matter said at the time.
Market Rebound
The Spanish real estate market has seen an increase in deals in recent years as both developers and investors are seeking to benefit from renewed demand for housing from middle-class Spaniards as the country’s economic recovery stretches into its fifth year.
A bid from Blackstone would come less than a year after the world’s largest manager of alternative assets beat off competition from Lone Star Funds and Apollo Capital Management LLC to buy a majority stake in 30 billion euros of Banco Popular Espanol SA’s real estate loans and properties at a discount on bets that the Spanish real estate market will outperform other markets in Europe.
--With assistance from Sarah Syed
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To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dinesh Nair at dnair5@bloomberg.net, Aaron Kirchfeld
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