The supermarket chain is buying the headquarters of Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana in Barcelona for around eight million euros, according to Expansión. The company owned by businessman Joan Font has closed the transaction for the property at number 95 Carrer Josep Pla, in the vicinity of the Diagonal Mar shopping centre.
The publishing group with more than fifty years of history acquired most of the property, which it shares with other owners, in 2004 for around ten million euros with the aim of promoting Catalan language and culture.
The group occupies a large part of the building, some 3,500 square metres, where the publishing company and the private foundation that manages it will now continue to rent it, taking advantage of the resources obtained from the transaction to reduce its bank debt. The company closed last year with equity of 15 million euros and a bank debt of 9.7 million euros, very similar to that of 2021.
Joan Font's distribution group, which includes the Bonpreu and Esclat supermarket chains, is in the habit of investing in real estate assets for commercial purposes. The Bon Preu Group is a Catalan company in the food sector which opened its first shop in Manlleu in 1974 and the first Esclat hypermarket in Vilafranca del Penedès in 1988.
