George Soros, arguably the world’s most famous financial speculator is taking a major stake in the flotation of a Spanish property group, reflecting an increase in confidence in Spain and other Southern European countries.
Soros and fellow hedge fund manager John Paulson have taken €92m stakes in Hispania Activos Inmobiliarios according to the Financial Times.
Hispania is seeking to list on the Madrid Stock Exchange as a real estate investment trust (REIT), focusing on property in key cities. It is targeting a double-digit returns over a six-year period.
If Hispania succeeds, it will be only the second property company to float in Spain since the crisis began.
Soros and Paulson follow Microsoft founder Bill Gates who invested €113.5 million in Spanish construction company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) in October last year.
George Soros is known as the “Man Who Broke the Bank of England” because of his short sale of US$10 billion worth of pounds, giving him a profit of $1 billion during the 1992 Black Wednesday UK currency crisis. In those days $1 billion was a lot of money!
