According to a filing at the CNMV stock market regulator, Barclays acquired 4.8 million Metrovacesa shares at €46.29 each to cancel debt owed it by the Sanahujas of around €220 million. Last February, Sanahuja's main creditor banks - Santander, BBVA, Caja Madrid, Banco Popular and Banco Sabadell - took over the family's 55% stake in return for the cancellation of €2.17 billion of debt. Following the deal done in December with Barclays, the Sanahujas stake was halve to just 22.67% in Metrovacesa.

Internally, Metrovacesa has been concentrating on raising liquidity for the last 24 months since the collapse of the Spanish housing market and the subsequent US-sparked global economic crisis. The group reported a net loss of €789 million in the first nine months of 2009, most of it due to a further write-down of assets. Without the latter, the loss would have been €275 million. It posted revenues of €508 million, and reported gross asset value of €9.2 billion, down 9.2% on the end of 2008. Net financial debt at end-September was €6.2 billion.

Separately, Metrovacesa has put up for sale some 1,500 apartments in 10 Spanish provinces at discounts of 25% to 52%. The campaign, entitled Goodbye Homes (Adiós Pisos), is the largest stock of housing to be offered in this manner and comprises a new concept for the Spanish market: Running until June 2010, it will auction one lot every fortnight through the Metrovacesa website. Discounts mean that final prices are between €99,999 and €570,000. Metrovacesa also announced the sale, just before year-end, of its Metropark Aparcamientos parking portfolio for just under €100 million to the Belgian group Interparking.