Trade fair venue Exponor sold for €32 million to Portuguese investor

One of Portugal’s largest trade fair venues, Exponor, has been sold to a Portuguese investor for €32 million.

Thirty-nine years after the first fair, inaugurated by President Mário Soares and Prime Minister Cavaco Silva, and thirteen years after passing into the hands of the Nexponor fund, resulting from the financial restructuring and conversion of bank loans of the Portuguese Business Association (AEP), Exponor will have a new owner within a matter of weeks.

“We went to the market in October and in November we received several proposals — about ten, which exceeded our expectations. All of them were above the ‘asking price’ of €32 million,” said Florence Ricou, the CEO of Insula Capital, the management company that runs Nexponor, which includes the Exponor exhibition park in Matosinhos told the business daily Negócios.

“The ‘due diligence’ phase followed,” which resulted in the signing of a preliminary purchase and sale agreement in March. “The contract will be signed in June,” added Florence Ricou, who owns 70% of Insula Capital, with the remaining 30% held by the Berda family office, owner of Vanguard Properties, one of the largest luxury real estate developers in Portugal.

“Approximately 50% of the proposals” were of foreign origin but Florence Ricou declined to reveal the value of the transaction or identify the new owner of Nexponor’s assets, revealing only that “it is a Portuguese company.”

Source: Negócios; Credits: Rights Reserved