This new guide is directed at investors who want to integrate this type of vehicles in the Iberian Peninsula, and it intends to be an orientation chart for new investors on REITs who are interested in these real estate markets.
The guide was presented in Madrid and Lisbon on the 4th and 5th of June, respectively, offering a compared analysis between Portugal and Spain in terms of economy, real estate market and legal and tax regulations concerning real estate societies listed in each country.
Nelson Rêgo, Prime Yield’s CEO and in charge of assessing investment funds at Gloval, comments that «SOCIMIs are a real success in Spain and, in 6 years, boosted foreign investment in the country’s real estate market. Currently there are more than 70 institutions listed at the Stock Exchange with an equity above 23.000 million euro. If, in Portugal, the SIGIs market manages to reach about a third of the Spanish SOCIMI market, which is the current ratio between the two countries’ commercial real estate markets, we might be talking about a universe, in five years, of around 25 companies listed on the Stock Exchange with an equity above 7.000 million euro», he calculates.
Luís Filipe Carvalho, partner at DLA Piper and in charge of the real estate department in Portugal, highlights that «SIGIs are the Portuguese REITs and are intended to tread the same path as the SOCIMIs in Spain. It was over this framing that DLA Piper and GLOVAL joined together to create the first SOCIMIs and SIGIs investment guide, comparing the two markets both legally and in terms of the real estate market, from a privileged perspective».
A new wave of Iberian investment
On the other hand Nelson Rêgo points out that «even with the nuances and rhythms of each country, to allow investment through real estate societies listed at the Stock Exchange in both countries might open the market to a new wave of Pan-Iberian focused investment», that is, «attract investors with integrated strategies who look at this entire territory as whole. That will be very beneficial for Portugal, which is seen as a more emergent European market and which can, in this way, gain a larger dimension towards Spain, which competes with highly consolidated markets, and gain new investors».
Nelson Rêgo concludes by saying that «our goal with this guide is precisely to offer a practical and useful tool, which can quickly show our investors the REITs’ main features in each country and where to find the most relevant real estate opportunities».