Mercialys is a French company that operates in real estate, owning and managing properties.[1][3] It was created by the retailer company Casino Group in 2005.[4]
History
In the late 1990s, the food retailer company Casino Group delegated the management of their retailer properties in a new subsidiary, Groupe Casino Immobilière.[4] In 2005, it was turned into a company with independent operations, which would go public itself, called Mercialys, although Groupe Casino retained a majority stake and therefore its control.[5] Mercialys was listed on the Paris Bourse on November 1, 2005.[6] The new company opted for the SIIC legal tax status for real estate investment trusts.[7]
Mercialys leases its properties (mostly shopping malls, self-service restaurants and other vendor locations) to retailer companies so that these exploit it.[1][3] The fact Mercialys maintains retail property assets in the long run, renovating and renting them, with limited exposure to development activities, gives it an advantage and a lower risk for investors.[8] It manages more than 120 properties, with a gross leasable area of about 714,500 m2.[9] The Mercialys' subsidiaries include Mercialys Gestion, Timur SCI, Point Confort and La Diane, among others.[3]
On March 4, 2012, Mercialys issued a bond to seven years, raising 650 million.[5] Also, it took debt from five banks to finance a 1.25 billion euros exceptional distribution for shareholders. It was supposed that these operations were carried out to fund Casino Group projects in Brazil.[10]
Ownership
As of January 31 of 2020, the company reported the following composition in the ownership of shares:
On February 9, 2012, Casino confirmed its intention of reducing participation in Mercialys to 30 or 40 percent with the aim of obtain by 800 million euros.[11] On 4 May 2012, it announced the selling of a 9.8 percent to Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, receiving 138 million euros and thus reducing its stake to 40.2 percent.[12]
