Having already managed to raise €600m, the Spanish real estate investment trust Merlin Property is aiming to launch a €1.5bn flotation. It’s being described as Europe’s biggest ever real estate flotation, the attraction being the opportunity of investing Spanish real estate prices that have failed to recover the 60 percent they’ve dropped in value since the financial crisis. It’s being led by former RREEF real estate investment trust managers who themselves will have a €7.5m stake in the venture. The FT reports that the vehicle will employ up to 50 percent leverage and aim for total returns of over 10 percent. The idea is for the company to be in place to take advantage of long-term areas of potential growth on various levels of the Spanish property sector.
