Football star Lionel Messi holds IPO for his real estate assets

BARCELONA: Football star Lionel Messi carried out an initial public offering (IPO) of his real estate properties, valuing the portfolio at €223 million (US$232 million).

The company, called Edificio Rostower Socimi, has been listed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) and owns seven hotels, commercial real estate for shops and offices, as well as houses, according to its prospectus.

Rostower posted loses in both 2022 and 2023.

The REIT’s share price was set on Dec 30 at €57.40 on a small, digital-only Spanish bourse called the Portfolio Stock Exchange.

Although he was born in Argentina and is currently based in Miami as a player for a local team, Messi spent most of his life in Spain, where he moved as a 12-year-old to join FC Barcelona’s youth teams.

Following a two-year stint in Paris, he went to Miami in 2023 only weeks after leading Argentina to win the 2022 World Cup.

His arrival in Miami has sparked a boom in interest and business for his Inter Miami team and more broadly for MLS, the main US football league.

Messi has traditionally had a lower-key approach to business investments than other sports stars, such as his perennial Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi’s move to list Rostower happened relatively quickly.

The firm only became a REIT in mid-December, days after an attempt by the Spanish government to increase the tax on real estate trusts was blocked in parliament.

REITs currently have a special tax rate that’s lower than the rate for other companies in Spain.

Investors tend to list REITs in order to meet legal requirements to benefit from the special tax regime in Spain, rather than to raise cash.

According to the data on the Portfolio Stock Exchange website, Messi’s company doesn’t have any free float requirements.