The French company, which is in the midst of a restructuring process after coming close to bankruptcy last year, plans to divest €1.25 billion in its real estate portfolio by 2025, according to the latest plan submitted to the French authorities, who are supervising the process.
Orpea, which at the end of 2022 had a portfolio of assets valued at €6.5 billion at market prices, aims to reduce its real estate exposure from 47% to between 20% and 25% of the portfolio it plans to operate by 2025. This opens the possibility for institutional capital or competitors to take over assets currently under Orpea's control, either through sale&leaseback transactions or pure divestments. The plan outlined by the company, which is due to receive the final go-ahead from the French authorities next week, also includes the creation of a company majority controlled by Orpea that will be responsible for the management of the remaining assets, and in which investors with a long-term vision are to be allowed to enter the capital, as detailed in the company's restructuring plan.
In Spain, Orpea currently operates 55 assets, according to the company's website, although it does not detail which are under a management contract and which are owned.
According to the accounts for the 2022 financial year, published last May, Orpea held real estate assets for sale for 40.1 million euros for its Iberian Peninsula and Latin America division. Orpea has declined to disclose how many of these assets corresponded to the Spanish market, but considering that the restructuring plan was presented last February, the divestment figure for the division could increase substantially.
