Merlin to launch on stock market in 2020

The Spanish real estate investment company Merlin Properties is to join the Lisbon stock market this year.

The company had planned to float by the end of 2019 but has now decided to do so this year. The company that is already listed on the Madrid stock market will undertake a dual listing and could float on the PSI-20 as early as March 2020.
With stock capital worth over €6Bn, the real estate investment management company (SIGI/SOCIMI/REIT) has already admitted that its plan is to start trading on the Lisbon stock exchange and could be the fifth largest company on the PSI-20.
In order to do so it will have to fulfil the necessary requirements to join; at least €100 million free float market capitalisation and a minimum of 15% free float capital. Because it will be a newcomer to the PSI-20 it will also have to have a minimum of 20 negotiated sessions, which means if it joins in January its application will only be considered at the next annual PSI-20 review in March 2020.
But Merlin is not the only real estate company planning to float on the Lisbon stock market in 2020, a move which will make it easier for national and international investors to invest in real estate in Portugal which has seen robust growth over the past three years.
The real estate developer VIC Properties has indicated that it plans to float on the stock market by June 2020.
In April the developer behind the luxury condominium Prata Riverside Village issued a €1 million worth of guaranteed convertible shares in preparation for joining the PSI-20 while in October it made contacts with investment banks and Euronext Lisbon.
A third entity whose application is less advanced is that of the first REIT created in Portugal – Ores Portugal which is a partnership between Sonae Sierra and Bankinter which already has a similar vehicle in Spain.
The partnership in both Spain and Portugal means that the two entities can manage a property management portfolio worth over €500 million on the Iberian Peninsula.