According to the CEO of the venture capital firm, Fernando Esmeraldo, in an interview with Negócios, the aim is to sell a total of €1,000 million by the end of 2018, taking advantage of the good moment that these sectors are currently experiencing in Portugal.
The sale plan is in the execution phase and, according to the same source, over the last year ECS has gained about €310 million through the sale of real estate and tourist assets. Hotels Golden Residence (Funchal), Vintage House Douro and Vintage Lisboa, a logistics platform with 50,000 m² in Azambuja, or the complex VivaMarinha in Cascais, are just a few public examples of assets that left the portfolio of ECS.
To achieve the goal, the sales rhythm will intensify from now on, explained the CEO of ECS Capital, whose goal is to get €700 million in this process by the end of next year. Herdade dos Salgados (Algarve), Colombos Resort (Porto Santo), Governor's Palace (Lisbon) or three office buildings in the Torres de Lisboa may be among the next assets to get out of the hands of ECS, although the CEO has not disclosed more information in this field.
Supporting this decision, Fernando Esmeraldo says it is the "improvement in the valuation of assets" and "the opportunity to capture this good phase in tourism and real estate", which weigh 80% in ECS Capital's portfolio. In addition, explains the same manager, it is necessary "to meet with what investors want", in this case the banking, or was not Novo Banco (35%), Millennium Bcp (35%) and CGD (13%) the main investors of the ECS funds, which remaining capital is dispersed by other financial institutions. In the case of the Recovery Fund, there is also another reference shareholder: the Directorate General for the Treasury (6%).