The entrepreneur has increased his investment position in the socimi by 30% over the last year.
The entrepreneur Manuel Lao Hernández, ex-owner of the Cirsa group, is now a shareholder in Merlin Properties. On Thursday, it informed the supervisor that its investment weight in the socimi is now equivalent to 8.168% of its share capital. A high reached after its latest purchases, executed on Tuesday.
On this occasion, Lao has announced the purchase of 10,400 Merlin Properties shares. A volume equivalent to a testimonial 0.002% of the socimi. However, the entrepreneur has indicated that after this transaction his portfolio now comprises 38.37 million shares in the real estate company.
This means that his current investment in Merlin Properties is slightly more than 30% larger than it had previously acknowledged to the CNMV. At present, his investment is valued at 360.7 million euros.
The year of the pandemic
The entrepreneur had declared to the supervisor a 6.271% share in the socimi. A percentage it reported in March 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has not yet been updated. By virtue of this share, Lao gained access to the board of directors of the listed company, where he has been represented by Ana Forner since June last year.
Having not increased his shareholding by a multiple of five during this time, Lao was and is under no obligation to update such position. However, he has taken the opportunity to do so with his latest notification of purchases to the supervisor, which was mandatory because he is represented on the board.
Other shareholders
In this latest acquisition, one of the richest men in Catalonia paid 9.57 euros for each share. In total, this time it has allocated another 99,528 euros to increase its position in the socimi, which during the first quarter increased its profit by 44%.
The entrepreneur, who has interests in multiple sectors, sold the gambling firm Cirsa three years ago. Ahead of it, at a more than comfortable distance, is Banco Santander, with 22.27% of the socimi’s capital. Below it, the list of relevant shareholders is completed by BlackRock, which owns 3.996% of its shares.