The company’s intention of being listed at the Portuguese Stock Exchange had already been advanced this year, but the process was only expected to be concluded by the second quarter of 2020. According to the REIT, the bureaucratic process is advancing and considering the contacts with CMVM and Interbolsa, the prospect is that the company will start being listed at the Lisbon Stock Exchange before the end of the year. The announcement was made by Fernando Ramirez, director for Spain, Inês Arellano, also director for Spain and João Cristina, Country Manager for Portugal.
According to Expresso, Merlin should move forward with a dual listing process, being listed in Portugal with the same assets with which it is listed in Spain.
For now, the creation of a SIGI (Portuguese REIT) is not on the table, as was announced by David Brush, CIO at Merlin Properties, during the Portugal Real Estate Summit: «we still have some doubts over the structure of this instrument. It is important to let the regime settle down».
Currently, the assets Merlin has in Portugal represent around 10% of its portfolio, a percentage which should increase in the coming years.
